


The De-Aged Doctor and the Prisoner of Azkaban

by Whovian101



Series: A Time Lord at Hogwarts [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-03-16 08:59:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 29,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13633026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whovian101/pseuds/Whovian101
Summary: The Doctor and Jack get hit with a de-aging gun, so they hide at Hogwarts to try to re-age themselves.





	1. Prologue

_The Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness sprinted across the room, trying to escape the gun blast. The Doctor wrenched the blue TARDIS door open, he and Jack diving in, but they were still caught in the blast. The Doctor rushed to his lab as he began mixing some complicated and ever changing chemical substance that Jack couldn’t understand at all. Jack felt the Doctor inject something into him when he wasn’t looking, than visibly injected himself with the same substance. “Doc?” Jack shouted over the ringing in his ears, he felt the room tip, and he dropped to the floor, and the last thing he saw was the Doctor, but not the Doctor as he was, the Doctor as Jack had first seen him, with his big ears and Northern accent, he called,_

_“Just relax Jack.” and the world went silent._


	2. Eleven Years Old

When Jack woke up, he laying on his back and was on the floor atop a bunch of familiar fabric. He saw a small face look down at him, it was a boy, just about eleven years old, with pale blue-green eyes and soft-looking brown hair, “You alright Jack?” His high pitched voice asked kindly,

“What?” Jack didn’t know this boy. The boy had seemed to expect this, and handed him a silver-rimmed mirror, and Jack looked inside it. He stared at the small, brown haired, eleven year-old boy who was looking back at him,

“It was a de-ageing gun they hit us with.” The boy sighed, as if given a minor inconvenience, not been aged down a few hundred years, Jack almost fell down the ramp,

“Doctor!” Jack came to the realization of whom the boy was,

“What?” The boy turned,

“Nothing- Just- wow.” The Doctor laughed, but it came out as more of a giggle, which made it hard to take him seriously.

“The TARDIS isn’t happy with all this, too many paradoxes, she’s taking us somewhere to camouflage us in.” The Doctor informed him, and Jack just nodded, still in shock.

“What are we going to do?” Jack asked, clearly concerned,

“We need to find how to re-age ourselfs. I mean, I can’t fly the TARDIS, which is made for six people, with this small child body.” The Doctor said, sounding frustrated for the first time since this began,

“Doc, what did you inject me with?” Jack asked suddenly, “If it didn’t re-age us, what did it do?”

“It was a little formula I threw together, it was meant to stop the de-aging process, but by the time it kicked in, we were already so young. It also kept our minds so we don’t mentally turn into kids as well.” Jack nodded again,

“So, where are we?” Jack asked when the shaking stopped, indicating that the TARDIS had landed them. The Doctor bounded to the door and pulled it open, then got slapped in the face with two letters. He closed the door and handed one to Jack, the envelope read:

_  
Mr. J. Harkness_

_Control Room_

_TARDIS_

 

Jack opened it to find a long letter that read;

 

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** _

_**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore** _

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 

_Dear Mr. Harkness,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 

_Term Begins on 1 September. We await your owl.._

 

_Yours sincerely,_

_**Minerva McGonagall** _

_**Deputy Headmistress** _

 

Jack gaped at the Doctor as he calmly read his letter, then Jack looked at the supply list it came with;

 

_**First-year students will require:** _

 

_**Uniform:** _

_Three sets of plain work robes (Black)_

_One plain pointed hat for day wear (Black)_

_One Pair of protective gloves (Dragonhide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (Black, silver fastenings)_

_**Please note that all student’s clothes should carry name-tags at all times.** _

 

_**Books:** _

_The Standard Book of Spells , Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 

_**Other Equipment:** _

_1 Wand_

_1 Caldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set of glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set of brass scales_

_Students may also bring an Owl, a Cat, or a Toad._

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS** _

 

The Doctor laughed, then turned to Jack, grinned, then pulled a lever on the TARDIS and a fountain of foreign coins fell into a pouch he held under it. “So, are we doing this then?” Jack asked as the Doctor handed him his own pouch of gold coins, the Doctor laughed,

“I’ll send the TARDIS to the Hogwarts grounds so she’ll be there if we need her.” The TARDIS’ hum changed a little, and Jack heard the Doctor murmuring, “No, come on, please. Stop it. We both know that’s a bad idea. But what if-, yes, I know. But after all-, I know but-, fine.” He turned back to Jack, “The TARDIS insists that she’s going to wait three days once we get to school to land. She wants us to ‘settle in’.” The Doctor rolled his eyes,

“Why are we getting settled in?” Jack asked, “Aren’t we just going to go, make the formula for re-aging, then leave?”

“It’s not as simple as that.” The Doctor sighed, “I have no clue how to make it, and how we’re going to get the resources for it. They’re probably not going to let us buy anything it’ll need. I guarantee it’s complicated.” Jack nodded, disappointed.

“Plus, we will need to fit in. Imagine if anyone figured out who we were.”

“Ianto would have a laughing fit.” Jack murmured, suddenly missing the man fiercely,

“Not to mention that we’d be studied and examined and probably experimented on.” The Doctor rolled his eyes, then said, “Grab a trunk of stuff and meet me back here. You’ll need different clothing,” He said, and Jack nodded, ready to get out of these now enormous clothes, “There’s some in the wardrobe that should fit, and anything sentimental you should leave in the TARDIS, she’ll keep it safe.” The Doctor affectionately patted the TARDIS. Jack nodded and the two boys sprinted off.

Probably an hour later, Jack and The Doctor met in the console room, each with a trunk with a shimmering gold-plated name on there, Jack’s had _Jack Harkness_ , and the Doctor had his false name, _John Smith_ on his. They looked at each other, ready to go.

“Alright, alright. I know. I’ll come see you in a few days when you materialize. I know.” The Doctor was stroking the TARDIS as they left, “Allons-y Jack.” He said. Jack rolled his eyes. The Doctor watched sadly as the TARDIS dematerialized, then started grumbling in a language that Jack didn’t understand, but assumed was Gallifreyan,

“You do know I can’t understand you, right?” Jack said,

“That’s what I was saying!” The Doctor said dramatically, “Now that the TARDIS is a few days ahead of us, I have to speak English!” Jack rolled his eyes,

“Oh the agony.” He said sarcastically, The Doctor grinned and lead him into a small pub at the corner called ‘The Leaky Cauldron” that he assumed had a perception filter so it would be disguised, they walked in,

“We’d like a bedroom until September 1st.” The Doctor announced to the man at the desk, the man nodded,

“Are your parents here or are you alone?”

“We’re alone.” The Doctor answered, relieved that being alone didn’t seem unusual. The man had them lead to a bedroom, and the Doctor and Jack decided to leave their trunks and head to Diagon Alley.


	3. Diagon Ally

Normally you couldn’t get into the alley without wand, but the Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to redistribute the bricks. A large doorway opened in front of them, and they rushed out into the alley. It was magnificent, there were so many stores, so much to do. They decided a wand took first priority, then they’d get their robes, than their other items, but books would have to wait for last because they both knew the Doctor would spend the longest in the book store. They headed for the wand shop, but Jack suddenly stopped,

“Jack?” The Doctor looked at his immortal friend,

“Doctor, we’re not wizards.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Jack.” The Doctor rolled his eyes, “Here, take this.” The Doctor handed Jack a chemical substance. Raising an eyebrow, he drank it in one gulp.

“Okay, so what was that?” Jack asked,

“All wizards are, are normal humans with a small psychic field. By the 51st century, where you’re from, they’ve all mated with muggles and their psychic field has been dramatically reduced.”

“And you already have the psychic field, because you’re a Time Lord, so you don’t need any elixir.” Jack concluded,

“Yep, be it, mine is much more sensitive than theirs, they only have a tiny milligram of what I’ve got, but that’s basically it. And what I gave you just increased your sensitivity a bit.” Jack nodded, and they continued on their way to the wand shop. Jack was incredibly excited, feeling like the excited little kid he looked like. They walked into the shop and saw a ginger boy who looked probably thirteen. It was strange for a boy of his age to be getting a new wand.

“Yes, yes, that one is good.” An older man with frizzy white hair, who must have been Mr. Ollivander said to the boy, “14 inches, willow, unicorn hair.”

“Thank you.” The boy smiled as the man beside him gleefully handed over the money for it. They walked out, and the Doctor and Jack walked up to the counter. Jack went first, He was handed a wand, and Ollivander said,

“Oakwood, Phoenix core, 10 inches,” the moment it touched Jack’s hands it sent a jet and broke a lamp, “No, no, no, no!” He handed him another, then whisked it away, it only took a few tries before Jack was smiling as his new wand. It was Firwood with a Dragon heartstring core and was 12½ inches long. Jack dropped the coins he owed into Mr. Ollivander’s hands, then grabbed the Doctor’s small hand and pushed him in front of the man.

The Doctor went through a lot more wands then Jack did. It was made especially difficult because the Doctor was ambidextrous, meaning he had twice as many options. Finally, a wand of Maplewood, with Phoenix core, and was 10 inches. The Doctor seemed content with this and smiled, at Ollivander, “What does it represent?” Ollivander seemed shocked that such a little boy was asking this,

“Well, Maplewood tends to choose wizards who are by nature travellers and explorers. They prefer an ambitious wizards who like fresh challenges and regular changes of scene. It is a beautiful and desirable wood because of its reputation as the wand of high achievers.” The Doctor nodded,

“What about the Phoenix core?” Mr. Ollivander seemed quite pleased with the Doctor’s curiosity and desire to learn,

“The Phoenix core is the rarest core. They are capable of the greatest range of magic. They show the most initiative qualities  and sometimes act on their own accord. It is hard to win their allegiance.” The Doctor nodded, understanding,

“And the length, does that have something to do with height?” Mr. Ollivander seemed overjoyed,

“It does!” He exclaimed, “Judging by your wand size, you will most likely be 5’8. The Doctor nodded, knowing that was the height of his first body when it was fully grown,

“And what about Jack’s wand?” He asked, Jack was in his chair twirling his wand of boredom, just wanting to go explore more of Diagon Alley.

“He has Firwood, which is known as ‘the survivor’s wand’ because it comes from the most resilient of trees.” The Doctor almost laughed, he looked at Jack with an amused look, he just rolled his eyes, of course he got the one that represented immortality. “And his core was Dragon heartstring, which tend to produce the wands with the most power and are capable of the most flamboyant spells. They tend to learn quickly, but it tends to be the easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, so be careful.” Mr. Ollivander warned darkly, “It also seems the most prone to accidents and is somewhat temperamental.” The Doctor nodded, finally noticing Jack’s impatience,

“I think my friend and I are going to go, but could I send an owl if I have any more questions?”

“Of course.” Mr. Ollivander, in a seemingly more happy mood then he had been when they came in.

“That took forever.” Jack grumbled,

“Sorry.” The Doctor murmured sarcastically, “I was interested.”

“I know.” Jack said apologetically, “Maybe it’s the kid hormones. The Doctor nodded,

“It might be. I don’t actually know how this will affect us hormonally.”

“That’s new, you not knowing something.” Jack grinned,

“Well, believe it or not, this has never actually happened to me before.” The Doctor said,

They walked into the robe shop to get fitted. There was a young girl in there with them with a striking resemblance to Rose Tyler, she looked around their age with dirty blonde hair and deep brown eyes and gave a large toothy smile,

“Hi!” She smiled, “I’m Rosalind, but you can call me Rose.” Jack ran after the Doctor who had sprinted from the room.

“Doctor!” he found the Doctor curled up in an alleyway, “Doctor are you alright?”

“Yeah,” He pulled himself up from where he was curled in a ball in the alleyway, “I’m always fine.” Jack rolled his eyes,

“She left after you ran, so we can go back now.” the Doctor nodded,

“Alright.” Jack grabbed his shaking hand,

“It’s going to be okay.” He whispered, the Doctor said nothing.

They were fitted and paid for their new robes, then headed to various shops, picking up their cauldrons, dragon hide gloves, crystal phials, telescopes, and brass scales. It was getting late by the time they finished, so they decided to finish shopping the next morning, and returned to the Leaky Cauldron and the Doctor passed out on the bed. Jack laid down on the other side of the bed.

When Jack saw the Doctor the next morning, he looked much better, he was much less pale, and seemed in a much better mood. They went down to the bookstore, and found the required textbooks, and more. The Doctor found an incredible amount of books, with more advanced subjects than Jack could fathom. They returned to their bedroom that night, prepared for the train ride to school tomorrow. By ten at night, Jack said he was going to bed, he looked at the Doctor who was reading all the books he’d gotten. “I’m going to bed. You coming?” he asked,

“No.” The Doctor responded, I may be a kid, but I’m still a Time Lord. I only need a few hours of sleep.” Jack shrugged,

“Whatever you want.” He then smiled, “Save some books for school.” He laughed at the Time Lord, the Doctor grinned,

“I’ll keep that in mind.”


	4. The Attack on the Train

The next morning came and Jack and the Doctor pulled their trunks to Kings Cross Station. The Doctor strode confidently to the wall between platforms 9 and 10. “Allons-y!” He sprinted into the wall. Jack watched, stunned, as the Doctor’s small figure disappeared. He began to walk, then jog, then he was running, at a wall he could tell was solid. He shut his eyes. He peaked them open when the impact with the wall that he had been expecting didn’t happen. He gazed around, he was on a new platform, with a big train labeled; HOGWARTS EXPRESS sat. His eyes rested on a bemused Doctor. “Are you going to stand there all day?” The Doctor asked, pulling Jack out of the way as another couple people ran through the barrier. They stepped onto the train, looking for a place to sit. The Doctor saw they girl, Rosalind, from earlier, he didn’t meet her eye, a tall girl, probably a fourth or fifth year, with deep brown hair invited them into their compartment with two identical redheaded twin boys around her age,

“Hello, my name is Anastasia.” She smiled, “You looked like you needed somewhere to sit.”

“Captain Jack Harkness.” Jack grinned before getting a sharp elbow to the ribs from the Doctor, “What?” Jack looked at the Doctor who was shaking his head,

“John Smith.” The Doctor smiled at her, “It’s nice to meet you.” The Doctor pulled out a book, Jack was stunned to see was _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_.

“That’s a seventh year book.” One of the identical twins said,

“Very observant of you.” The Doctor replied, the boys laughed,

“I’m Fred,”

“And I’m George.” They grinned,

“Nice to meet you Fred and George,” Jack grinned, The Doctor looked up from his book grinning more brightly than he had in a long time,

“I’ve figured it out Jack!”

“What?” Jack looked curiously at the Doctor,

“Transfiguration!” He grinned, “At first I thought is was impossible, because it breaks the law of conservation of mass, but actually it’s taking the quantum-”

“English.” Jack reminded him as he had already begun to rant about some techno-babble.

“It hacks reality.” The Doctor smiled, “It’s not turning something into something else, it’s about imagining the one thing has always been the other thing. It’s literally going into the code of the universe and rewriting it according to your imagination!” Jack shrugged and turned to the twins,

“I swear I only understand have the stuff he says.” but the twins were looking at him with a deep fascination.

“We should introduce you to someone.” they ran off and came back a minute later with a girl with frizzy brown hair, who seemed quite irritated, “His name is John, and he’s as big a nerd as you are, maybe even more if that’s possible.” They were informing her as they walked in.

“Hey.” She said in a teacher-like tone to the young students. The Doctor shook her hand, “Nice to meet you.” She smiled, “The twins have told me you’re very smart.” The Doctor was already frustrated with being spoken to like a kid.

“Yes.” He said flatly,

“I just wanted you to know that if you needed help with anything if you’re in Gryffindor, feel free to ask me.” The Doctor didn’t like how if he wasn’t in Gryffindor, she wasn’t willing to help him, even if he knew he wouldn’t need help. So he replied with a bitter,

“And I will help you if you need it, it doesn’t matter which house I’m in.” She looked taken aback, but slightly amused, not imagining she would need help from a first year,

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She smiled,

“Yes, you should.” He picked back up his book.

“Is that _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_?” She asked,

“Yes. All the other ones were useless. This is the only one that explained the theory.”

“That’s for N.E.W.T. level students though!” she exclaimed, “Even I haven’t read it!”

“Well, I will help you if you need it.” He repeated, she stormed out, mumbling something about how it didn’t matter because he was clearly going to be a Slytherin. She didn’t seem happy with him. “She’s pleasant.” The Doctor said sarcastically, then saw the two twins were grinning wide,

“Did you see her face!” They were laughing,

“It’s been years since we’ve made her that mad!”

“She doesn’t like when someone’s smarter than her!”

“Especially a first year!” The Doctor smiled, happy they didn’t mind anyone from other houses, as he noticed Anastasia’s Hufflepuff scarf.

The ride was smooth, they were about halfway to the castle when the train came to a stop.

“That’s weird.” Fred mumbled,

“We can’t be there yet.” George agreed. The Doctor looked out at the lake, it was freezing over and the temperature was dropping. All of a sudden, the lights flickered off, leaving them in pitch blackness. After a few silent minutes, a floating, hooded creature opened the compartment door. When it came in there was a grim feeling, as though he may never be happy again. With his superior vision, he saw Jack, Anastasia, Fred, and George could feel this too, but it was more than that, he felt so much more than any of them ever could feel. He squeezed his eyes tight, tears rolling down, as he watched in agony as the vision of his granddaughter, Susan, look longingly at the TARDIS as it began to dematerialize, leaving her behind. He watched Ian and Barbara, just walking away, never looking back. Vicki, replacing herself with Katarina. Steven, accepting the responsibility to lead the combined society of Savages and Elders that are attempting to create a lasting peace. Katarina push the airlock control, shooting her out into the vacuum of space. Sara, caught in the fields of the Time Destructor and, being a human rather than a Time Lord, aged to death. Dodo, leaving him behind to stay in 1966 London. Polly, and Ben resuming their lives and forgetting about him. Jamie and Zoe, with their minds wiped of him. Victoria, staying with the Harris’. Liz, abandoning him to return to University. Jo, marrying Jones and leaving the Doctor to go to the Amazon. Harry, ejected from the TARDIS and left in England, 1936. Leela, staying with Andered and K-9 Mark I on Gallifrey, later to be killed in the Time War. Romana, killed in the Time War as well. Adric’s ship crash and explode into pieces. Tegan, choosing to stay in 1984 London. Nyssa, leaving him to go to a university. Vislor, leaving him to return to Trion. Kamelion destroyed in the Master’s tissue compression eliminator. Peri, forced to be abandoned on Thoros Beta where Lord Kiv replaced her brain with his own. Melanie, walking away to live on the Iceworld with Sabalom Glitz. Ace, attending the Time Lord Academy, presumably killed in the Time War. Grace, turning down his offer to travel. Rose, his beautiful, wonderful Rose, he watched her disappear with her ‘father.’ He heard her “I love you!” on _Darlig ulv Stranden,_ or Bad Wolf Bay. He watched in pain as he saw her fade away, screaming at himself to answer, to tell her he loved her, but all that came out was, “Rose Tyler-” He then saw Captain Jack, forced to live forever. Adam Mitchell, in the Doctor’s rage, left on Earth with an implant in his head. His daughter, Genny, shot. Martha turning her back and walking away from him, leaving him for her family. River Song, the mysterious woman who knew his name, saved in that library. Donna, smiling, but not able to remember him. Then, to his horror, he saw Gallifrey. He saw the children. All those children. Everything was burning. He remembered every one of them. How could he forget? He remembered the pain. The pain the never left. The pain that was always building up in the back of his mind, now blazing, the only thing he could think of.

The Doctor’s eyes jumped open, Jack was next to him. Fred, George, and Anastasia were looking down at him, as well as a tall, scratched up, professor. The Doctor jumped up, “Are you alright?” Was the first thing that came out of Jack’s mouth,

“Course, I’m always alright.” He gave his, ‘always okay’ smile, but he could tell Jack wasn’t buying it. His headache made everything blurred and he was emotionally exhausted. He tried to get up, but he found himself being eased down by Jack, as he had began to fall. The professor handed him some chocolate, telling him to eat it, then he walked out of the compartment. Jack looked at the Doctor, who began nibbling on the chocolate.

The train pulled to a stop, and they all grabbed their belongings. A large man was calling out, “First years! This way! First years!” They walked up to him, joining the rest of the gathering first years. They took some large boats across the lake. The Doctor was still frighteningly pale, but the chocolate seemed to have helped, because he was up against the side of the boat, looking in at the water at the luminescent creatures underneath.

“What house do you think you’ll be in?” A boy in their boat asked,

“Ravenclaw?” The Doctor said, knowing it was more wishful thinking,

“You’re totally going to be a Gryffindor and you know it.” Jack said, “I’ll probably be a Slytherin.” The Doctor shrugged,

“What do you think you’ll be in?” He asked the boy,

“My whole family has been Gryffindor, so I probably will be too, so we probably won’t be able to talk.” He addressed Jack, “But we can.” He smiled at the Doctor,

“Why not Jack?” The Doctor asked,

“We don’t mingle with Slytherins.” He laughed, “are you muggle-born or something?”

“That’s a shame.” He said. The boy smiled until the Doctor said, “I thought you’d be a friend.” His face fell,


	5. The Sorting

All the first years were taken up a staircase and stood in front of a large door. “This is Professor McGonagall.” The large man informed them,

“Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here.” A woman smiled, she was an older woman, probably sixty or seventy, with long emerald green robes, and a tall black pointed hat. “Welcome to Hogwarts.” She said, “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common-room.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.” She gave a smile, then said, “I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.” There was a lot of whispering, and all of a sudden, a couple people screamed as twenty pearly-white transparent ghosts flew in.

“Evolution of the gelth.” The Doctor whispered to Jack who nodded,

“New students!” A large monk-like ghost wearing a ruff and tights exclaimed, “I’m the Fat Friar! I hope to see you in Hufflepuff!”

“Move along now! The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin.” Professor Mcgonagall returned and the ghosts dispersed. “Now form a line and follow me.” She said she pulled open the large door and stepped into the great hall. The room was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. The ceiling was too high to make out, presumably enchanted to reflect the sky. Most kids were in awe, but the Doctor and Jack looked at each other and shrugged, having seen much more than these kids. They followed Professor Mcgonagall across the floor, looking around at all of the students. They stood in a line as Professor Mcgonagall stepped forwards with large scroll of parchment. Next to her on a stool was a brown, patched, frayed, old, hat. “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted.” She adjusted her scroll, “Abner, Natia.” A girl with black hair in pigtails, brown eyes, and robes that looked two sizes too big, probably from another sibling, She was grinning and jammed the hat on her head, it hesitated for a second, than yelled,

“RAVENCLAW!” She enthusiastically took the hat off and ran to her house table, than embraced an older girl, presumably her sister.

“Amherst, William.” A blonde boy calmly walked up, his hair was combed over and his posture straight, implying he was from a wealthy family.

“HUFFLEPUFF!” The hat shouted the second it rested on his head, his face lit up, placing the hat down carefully, patting it twice, then walking to the table.

“Barringer, Daniel.” A boy with brownish-red hair and freckles bounced up

“HUFFLEPUFF!” He followed the blonde boy and they hugged, clearly good friends,

“Cohen, Henry.” This boy was shaking, he sat down and slowly placed the hat on his head. The Doctor could tell he was having a mental conversation. He then saw his face visibly relax, smile, then the hat called,

“GRYFFINDOR!” He pulled off the hat, than ran down to the Gryffindor table.

“Dalton, Emily.” A smiling girl hurried up to the stool. Her hands were shaking, but she didn’t let her smile waver.

“SLYTHERIN!” The hat shouted, and the girl, now visibly relieved, ran to the table, and sat down in between two third-years.

“Duke, Roseline.” The girl the Doctor had seen the other day walked up to the stool. He no longer fought the urge to run, but still felt that pain of being reminded of Rose.

“RAVENCLAW!” She smiled, not as enthusiastically as the others, but not upset.

“Harkness Jack.” Jack winked at the Doctor, than sat on the stool, feet swinging because they didn’t quite reach the floor. The hat thought for a few minutes,

“SLYTHERIN!” It called, and Jack pulled off the hat. The Doctor gave him a thumbs up, as Jack smiled and ran up to the table.

“Joy, Louis.” The professor shouted,

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Simon, Pendleton.”  
“SLYTHERIN!”

“Raymond, Sophia.”

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Smith, John.” The Doctor walked up, keeping his fake smile on, but he worried. He slowly placed the hat on his head, and immediately felt the telepathic connection.

 _Oh! You’re new._ The hat was laughing, _I’ve never gotten someone like you before._ The Doctor began to worry, and was tempted to pull back up his mental walls that he had torn down for the hat, but quickly thought against it. _You have many qualities of a Ravenclaw. You are more clever than anyone I’ve ever seen. You are smarter than every professor here. Your wisdom is much beyond my own, but you tend to act impulsively when those you care about are in danger. I am lead to think that you would do well in Hufflepuff. You have worked very hard to get to where you are, you are loyal to the human race, and fairness is very important to you. But your hands are far from clean. You also share many attributes of a Slytherin, you are very much a leader, making your own rules as you go. Though you may show a slight bias for this House because of your friend’s placement, but you are far from cunning. Lastly, you are much like a Gryffindor, for you have so much courage, bravery. Your determination is beyond measure than anyone I’ve ever seen. You may not like it, but you are a warrior. You fight, and you destroy. And yet, you trust my opinion. Very well. I will place you where I think you belong._

“GRYFFINDOR!” The Doctor looked around, they clearly had taken a long time to come to this conclusion, for everyone was murmuring. The Doctor placed the hat back on the stool and walked over to the Gryffindor table in between Fred and George.

“Wow.” Fred whispered, “I don’t think anyone’s ever taken that long.

“Yeah, It must have been a half hour.”

“27 minutes and 34 seconds.” The Doctor said, still grateful that even as a kid, his time sense was intact. The Professor cleared her throat and said,

“Waldegrave, Brendon.” A boy timidly walked up and stared at where the Doctor now sat, before putting the hat on and it yelling,

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

Finally, the last girl, Anthia Vaden, was called, and sent to Gryffindor where she sat across from the Doctor. The Doctor turned around and saw the frizzy-haired girl from earlier on the train, and a tall, skinny boy with round glasses and messy black hair walk into the hall, late for some reason.

“Who are they?” The Doctor asked Fred,

“That’s Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.” He grinned, the Doctor smiled, he had done some reading about Harry Potter. Harry sat down with them as the pointing and whispering came to a halt. They watched as the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, as the letter had said. Professor Dumbledore, while old, seemed to give an impression of great energy. He had several feet of long silver hair and beard, half-moon spectacles, and a nose that had clearly been broken at some point.

“Welcome!” He smiled to the students, “to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast.” He cleared his throat, than continued, “As you will all be aware after the search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business. They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks,” the Doctor looked at Hermione and the ginger boy he saw in Ollivanders, glance at each other, “It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors,” another ginger boy further down the table puffed out his chest. Dumbledore looked very seriously around the hall, nobody moved or made a sound, “On a happier note,” He continued, “I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.

“First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” There was some scattered applause, and the man who the Doctor recognised from the train, stood up, waved, and sat back down. “As to our second new appointment,” Dumbledore continued, “Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties.” An applause began, Harry, the ginger boy, and Hermione girl clapped the loudest. “Well, I think that’s everything of importance,” Dumbledore finished, “Let the feast begin!” The golden plates and goblets in front of them suddenly were filled food and drink. The Doctor watched as everyone started digging in.

At last, the feast was finished, and Professor Dumbledore gave the word for everyone to go to bed. Fred, George and the Doctor were walking together, chatting about what classes they were looking forwards to, but Professor Mcgonagall stood in front of them. “Mr. Smith.” She said, “I would like you in my office.” the Doctor nodded, waved goodbye to the twins, then followed Professor Mcgonagall to her office. It was a small study located off of the first-floor corridor. There was a large fireplace and windows that overlooked the Quidditch pitch. She motioned for the Doctor to sit down, and he did so.

“Professor Lupin sent me an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train.” The Doctor shook his head, knowing he couldn’t be sent to the hospital wing, as not being human tended to raise some questions with people. A knock was heard on the door and a woman came bustling in wearing a high starched collar, a peaked hat, and a long dress and apron combination. Her blonde hair was graying, but her eyes had a spark of youthfulness in it.

“Setting dementors around a school.” She muttered, pushing back the Doctor’s hair,

“I’m fine.” He insisted, “Professor Lupin gave me some chocolate and I feel much better.” He concluded that the truth would get him further than any lie he could think of. She began talking to Professor Mcgonagall, ignoring the Doctor,

“What does he need?” Professor Mcgonagall asked, “Bedrest? Perhaps he should spend the night in the hospital wing?”

“Please, I’m fine.” The Doctor said, frustrated that no one was listening,

“Are you sure you feel alright Mr. Smith?” Professor Mcgonagall asked,

“Yes.” He said,

“Very well, I will escort you to the common room.”

“Thank you.” The Doctor said, relieved, and followed the woman out.

 

“Password?” A portrait of a large woman asked when they arrived,

“Fortuna Major.” Professor Mcgonagall said, and the portrait swung open to reveal a common room. There were two separate staircases, one for boys, and one for girls. He walked up the boy’s staircase and walked into a dormitory. It was circular with five four-poster beds. Four other boys were there, and when the Doctor walked in, they all looked at him, as he sat on his bed and pulled a copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ by Libatius Borage and started to read. After a while, all the other boys had fallen asleep, and the Doctor was left on his own, thinking about what the Sorting Hat said. Warrior. Blood on his hands, making his own rules. His heart dropped. Is this what he was now?


	6. Potions Class

The Doctor walked across the room to the Slytherin table where Jack was sitting. “Good morning.” He smiled,

“Good morning.” They began to talk before a tall seventh-year boy with thick black hair walked up to them and pointed a boney finger at the Doctor,

“You can’t talk to him.” He hissed at Jack,

“Why not?” The Doctor asked accusingly, not liking the House dynamic,

“You are a Gryffindor.” He drawled,

“Yes, you are very observant. And you are a Slytherin. You didn’t answer my question. Why not?” He watched the boy’s face twist, then pushed the Doctor. The Doctor stumbled and fell on the ground, but stood back up, and picked up the schedule he was given. Jack looked at his schedule to compare.

“We have potions together.” The Doctor smiled, “And Flying lessons, and Defence Against the Dark Arts.” They smiled, it could have been worse, and walked to their potions class together.

The class started with Professor Snape having them pair up. Jack and the Doctor were more than happy to work together. “You are here to learn the subtle science and art of potion-making,” Professor Snape began, he spoke very quietly, but still managed to command the silence of the whole class. “As there is little foolish wand-wavering here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnare the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren’t the big bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.” The Doctor found Professor Snape’s enthusiastic description slightly humorous,

“Smith!” the professor’s eyes locked onto the Doctor, “You seem entertained,” He said, clearly having noticed the Doctor humored face, “So tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

“You would make an incredibly strong sleeping potion known as The Draught of Living Death. It brings upon its drinker a very powerful sleep that can last indefinitely. This is very dangerous if not used with caution.” The Doctor said effortlessly. Professor Snape seemed taken aback,

“Correct.”

‘It’s a simple enough potion to make, as long as you know what you’re doing.” the Doctor mentioned offhandedly,

“That is a N.E.W.T. level potion!” Professor Snape exclaimed,

“Yes it is.” The Doctor said, than Professor Snape thought for a moment before asking,

“But where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”

“It’s a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and is used as a cure for most poisons.” The Doctor said. Professor Snape once more was surprised,

“And what’s the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

“It’s the same plant, otherwise known as aconite.” The Doctor said in a matter-of-fact way. Professor Snape nodded,

“Very good Mr. Smith.” He smiled, “Ten points to Gryffindor.” The Gryffindors were stunned, it was clearly very rare for Professor Snape to give points to Gryffindor. “Now, you and your pairs will mix up a simple potion to cure boils.” The students began to get to work, but the Doctor just stared at the instructions,

“Doctor?” Jack asked, but he was not the only one to notice his lack of work.

“Smith!” Professor Snape snapped at him, “Would you care to explain why you aren’t working?” The Doctor’s eyes peeled from the instructions to look at the professor,

“I’m trying to figure out why you gave us the wrong potion.”

“Wrong?” Snape’s eyebrows knitted together,

“Well, dangerous and inefficient in any case.”

“Explain yourself.”

“Start with the snake fangs for example,” The Doctor began, “They’re only added for the calcium and the oxidoreductases. The ions of the former help desiccate the boil. The latter, when strengthened ad specialized for _Staphylococcus aureus_ via magic, helps the body fight off the infection. Everything else in the snake fang is not only useless, but, in some cases, a detriment, as seen by its violent reaction to the keratin if the porcupine quills is added too soon.” Snape opened his mouth to interrupt, but the Doctor continued, not giving him a chance. “If you replace the snake fangs with pure calcium, or even sodium chloride come to think of it, and an oxidoreductase such as catalase or L-amino-acid oxidase, which actually are in snake venom, or if you prefer, regular isopropyl alcohol would work just as well and is easy enough to get, you would have eliminated all the extraneous ingredients. Without these ingredients, the dried nettles become pointless,  since they are only added to absorb the useless and poisonous parts of the snake fangs.” Professor Snape frowned, then slowly sank into his desk chair and started taking notes. “Without nettles, you can add fewer slugs, since you no longer have to compensate for them being absorbed. With fewer slugs you don’t have to worry as much about the disulfide bonds within the keratin reacting poorly. Thus you don’t have to worry about possibly adding the porcupine quills too soon and destabilizing the bonds.” The Doctor frowned, reviewing the changes he's made, then said, “Of course, I should point out that if you do use isopropyl alcohol, you’d have to change your base liquid, since alcohol won’t mix well with oil. That’s pretty simple though; simply use water instead of oil. Granted, this means that the finished product is too thin to slather on a boil, but you can add cornstarch until it’s thick enough. This changes the final product from an ointment to a poultice, but it works just as well. There are, of course, other modifications you can make to both simplify the process to make it more efficient, but at this point you get the idea.” Professor Snape looked like he might faint.

“Mr. Smith I-” He thought for a moment, “I would like you to create the potion as written, as this class requires practical capabilities as well as theoretical knowledge.” The Doctor nodded in agreement and started the potion. Professor Snape paid close attention to the Doctor’s flawless work, and to his amazement, every so often, the Doctor leaned over to correct or make a suggestion to Jack, a Slytherin.

At the end of class, the Doctor’s potion was perfect, and Jack’s was pretty close as well. After packing up, the Doctor heard Professor Snape call his name, “Smith! I would like to see you.” He waved goodbye to Jack, who headed out, and walked up to Professor Snape.

“Yes sir?” He said, as he approached,

“I would like to move you to a more experienced class.” The Doctor nodded,

“Okay.”

“I will discuss this with the Headmaster.”

“Thank you sir.”

“You should get to class.” He said, so the Doctor took off to his next class.


	7. The Boggart

Herbology was easy for the Doctor as well, as he had come across billions of types of plants in his years of travels. The Professor, Professor Sprout, didn’t seem interested in moving him to a higher class, claiming there was nothing better than experience. He then departed for his flying lesson. He and Jack stood across from each other, happy to see each other again. The teacher, Madam Hooch commanded each of them to stand by a broom. “Now stick your right hand over your broom and say ‘up!’” The Doctor did this, but nothing happened, he commanded it up again, nothing happened. Jack’s soon flew up into his hand, but the Doctor finally got frustrated and just picked it up. “Now, when I blow my whistle, kick off the ground hard.” They nodded, “One. Two. Three!” She blew the whistle, and Jack and the Doctor managed to get in the sky. The Doctor was not nearly as good as Jack. Jack flew circles around the irritable and struggling Doctor. Finally, they were told to come back to the ground, and the Doctor didn’t hesitate. He didn’t like the brooms. Or the endless teasing from Jack.

Jack and the Doctor were looking forwards to their Defence Against the Dark Arts class. They walked in to find Professor Lupin. He was grinning, happy to see the students, this first lesson  was a combined class with the third years. “Good afternoon.” He smiled, “Would you please put all your books in your bags. Today’s will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands.” Many of the third years started to whisper as they put their books away, clearly practical lessons were not usual. “Right then, if you’d follow me.” Everyone stood up, exchanging curious glances, as they followed him out of the room. They were lead along a deserted corridor and around a corner, then down a second corridor and stopped right outside the staffroom. It was a large, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs. It was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filled in. His face had a nasty sneer on it. As Professor Lupin went to close the door, Professor Snape said,

“Leave it open, Lupin. I’d rather not witness this.” He stood and strode past the class, but abruptly turned at the doorway, “Possibly no one’s warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.” The third year who must have been Neville turned bright pink. Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow,

“I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation, and I am sure he will perform it admirably.” Neville shrunk back, and Professor Snape, giving the class one last snear, turned on his heel and left. Professor Lupin then continued,

“Now then,” He gestured to a large wardrobe that clearly had something in it from the way it was moving, but Professor Lupin just smiled and said, “Nothing to worry about, there’s a boggart in there.” The Doctor looked at Jack,

“What’s a boggart?” Jack asked quietly, just as the Doctor began explaining, Professor Lupin said,

“Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces, wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under the sinks - I’ve even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. _This_ one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to my first and third years for some practice.

“So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what _is_ a boggart?” The Doctor’s hand shot up, as did Hermione’s,

“Yes? Mr. Smith?” Hermione’s face dropped,

“A boggart is a shapeshifter that takes the shape of that which is most feared by the person who encounters it.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Professor Lupin smiled, “So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.

“This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Who has spotted it?” The Doctor’s hand flew up again, as did Hermione’s.

“Miss Granger.” He called,

“Because with so many of us, it won’t know what shape to shift into.”

“Precisely,” Professor Lupin said, Hermione gave the Doctor a triumphant look, “It’s always best to have company when you’re dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake - tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening.

“The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is _laughter_. What you need to do if force it to assume a shape that you find amusing.

“We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please… _riddikulus!_ ”

“ _Riddikulus!_ ” Everyone repeated,

“Good, very good.” He smiled, “But that was the easy part, I’m afraid. You see, the world alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville.” Neville looked as though he wanted to run out of the classroom. “First thing’s first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you the most in the world?” Neville mouthed something, “Didn’t catch that, Neville, sorry.” Professor Lupin said encouragingly. Neville looked around at the staring faces,

“Professor Snape.” He said quietly. Nearly everyone laughed, even Neville gave a light smile,

“Professor Snape… hmmm… Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?” Neville nodded, but then nervously said,

“Er - yes. But - I don’t want the boggart to turn into her either.” Professor Lupin laughed,

“No, no, you misunderstand me. I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?” Neville looked surprised, but nodded and began to describe her long green dress and fox-fur scarf. “Right then,” Professor Lupin said at the end of the description, “Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind’s eye?”

“Yes,”

“When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape, and you will raise your wand - thus - and cry ‘ _Riddikulus’_ \- and concentrate hard on your grandmother’s clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag.” There was a burst of laughter, and the wardrobe wobbled violently.

“If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn. I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you the most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…” Jack grabbed the Doctor’s hand

“You shouldn’t do this.” He said, the Doctor nodded in agreement, terrified of what he might see. All of a sudden, a blonde Slytherin boy with slicked back hair and a disgusted look on his face approached them,

“What are you doing?” He angrily yelled at Jack,

“Speaking with a friend of mine.” He said simply,

“Friend?” The boy snorted, “He’s a Gryffindor.”

“So what?” The boy’s face twisted,

“Gryffindor’s are our rivals. They are stupid.” It seemed like such an immature thing to say, but he was a thirteen year-old boy. The Doctor and Jack laughed, and the Doctor was pushed to the floor,

“Are we going to have a problem?” Professor Lupin walked up to them. Jack helped the Doctor up and looked at the blonde boy, who had eyes that looked like they could kill. Professor Lupin pulled the Doctor up towards the wardrobe, “Why don’t you go.” The Doctor began to protest, but then he watched the boggart begin to change, he saw a man, tall with spiky brown hair, wearing an orange spacesuit,

“No, no, no, no…” He began to whisper, tripping backwards, staring at his tenth incarnation of himself, it was shouting, “For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not. I'm the winner. That's who I am. The Time Lord Victorious.” The Doctor’s hand was shaking, clutching his wand so hard his knuckles were white. No one was moving, they all were staring at the Doctor and his boggart, “ _Riddikulus!_ ” the Doctor shouted, but his hand was shaking so violently, it barely managed to hit the boggart, and the boggart changed with a loud _Crack!_ , but not to something funny, like everyone else’s had, it turned to the same man laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, dead. Suddenly, as if he just now unfroze himself, Professor Lupin dashed in front of the boggart and it turned to a silvery orb that resembled the moon that hung in mid-air,

“ _Riddikulus._ ” He said in a lazy tone, the orb fell to the floor as a cockroach, and he encased it back into the wardrobe. “Normally, with enough laughter, we can destroy it, but I think that’s enough for today.” The Doctor was curled up in the back of the classroom with Jack. He saw Professor Lupin glance at him. Knowing he was the reason for the class being cut short, the Doctor resolved to get out of there as fast as he could. “I would like all of you to read the chapter on boggarts tonight for homework.” Everyone began walking out of the room, the Doctor and Jack hurrying to be out, but Professor Lupin stepped in front of them, “I’d like to speak with Mr. Smith please.” Jack gave the Doctor a ‘good luck’ glance, before departing.

Once everyone had left the room, Professor Lupin spoke, “I suppose you know why I wanted to see you,”

“Yes sir,” The Doctor said, “But I’m fine sir.”

“Who was that man?” He asked, the Doctor opened his mouth, than closed it again, what was he supposed to say, there was nothing he could say that would make sense to the professor.

“No one.”

“Clearly it was someone.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Very well.” Professor Lupin accepted that he wouldn’t get an answer, “But you do know death is not funny.”

“I know sir, but I’m going to be late for class, so I have to go.” And with that, the Doctor sprinted from the room.


	8. The Teachers Meeting

Charms was much more difficult. They were told to do the spell, _Wingardium Leviosa._ The Doctor did as he was told, swishing and flicking his wand, knowing what the spell was supposed to do, but the feather in front of him merely wobbled. Professor Flitwick approached him, seeing the progress he was making, “Relax you hand.” He suggested,

“What?” The Doctor looked up at the man,

“Your wand,” He said, “You’re gripping it very tightly.” The Doctor looked at his hand, he indeed was gripping it extremely tightly,

“Sorry. Habit.” He mumbled, releasing his grip on the wand. Professor Flitwick looked suspiciously at him, then his eyes widened as the Doctor made the feather in front of him wiz around the room effortlessly.

Transfiguration was next, the Doctor had already figured it out on the train. The lesson was to turn matches into needles, and he did it in one try. Professor Mcgonagall was astounded, clearly she hadn’t expected someone to do it in one class, nevermind in one try. She looked at him, then handed him another match, telling him to do it again. He obliged. She stared.

“It’s not hard.” he said, turning the desk into a hog, just as Professor Mcgonagall had done as a demonstration at the beginning of the class.

When class ended, Professor Mcgonagall decided to visit Professor Dumbledore. When she knocked the door, it opened revealing the professor, “Ah, Professor Mcgonagall, I was expecting you.” He looked up over his half-moon spectacles, “I expect it's about one Mr. John Smith.”

Yes Albus, he transfigured his match into a needle on his first try.”

”He has exhibited extraordinary knowledge in many of his classes. I think you should acknowledge all the teachers that we are to meet in my office tonight to discuss what we should do.” She nodded and exited the office.

Professor Mcgonagall and the other teachers arrived that night. Professor Snape wouldn't stop talking about what a star student John Smith was, and how he wanted to move him to his N.E.W.T. class.

”He was barely able to get off the ground.” Madam Hooch cut in,

”So he's not a flyer,” pipped in Professor Flitwick, “but after a little positioning with his wand, his levitation charm was perfect.”

“I have done us all a favor and have invited him to my office earlier today.” Professor Dumbledore announced over all the talking. With that, they all turned to look at the headmaster,

“And what have you learned?” Professor Lupin asked, clearly interested in this curious boy,

“He is a good lier.” Professor Dumbledore laughed, “He says he’s an orphan, but found himself exposed to numerous wizards and spell books when he took residence in the _Leaky Cauldron_ for an extended period of time with his best friend Mr. Jack Harkness, who lacked his ambition for knowledge, which is why the Sorting Hat took so long to sort him, between his Ravenclaw-like knowledge, his Slytherin-like ambition, his Hufflepuff-like passion, and his Gryffindor-like courage.”

“So what does this tell us about him?” Professor Flitwick asked,

“That he has his backstory down and thoroughly thought out.” They nodded,

“He refuses to see Poppy in the hospital wing.” Professor Lupin said thoughtfully,

“Yes, and I got your owl about his reaction to the boggart. Perhaps you’d like to explain.” Everyone looked expectantly at Professor Lupin, who explained what happened in the class. Everyone thought for a moment, not sure what to make of this boy,

“Perhaps you should try Legilimency?” Professor Mcgonagall suggested, referring to the wizard-equivalent of mind-reading,

“Perhaps.” Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully,

“Or we could just send him to the hospital wing.” Madam Pomfrey said,

“I will have him meet me for Occlumency lessons,” Professor Dumbledore said, Occlumency being the art of magically closing one’s mind to Legilimency. “Poppy, I’d like you to have him come down to the hospital wing tomorrow.” Madam Pomfrey nodded,

“And what about his classes?” Professor Mcgonagall cut in, “there is no question that he needs more advanced classes.” Professor Dumbledore thought for a moment, before turning to Professor Binns, the only Ghost teacher,

“Where would you like to place him for History of magic?”

“First year.” Professor Binns replied, “He clearly has no idea about history, he keeps interrupting classes to make up a ridiculous story about an event.”

“Very well, first year. Pomona?”

“First year. He clearly has a lot of knowledge of plant life, but nothing is compared to experience.” Professor Sprout said, Professor Dumbledore nodded,

“Severus?”

“Seventh year.” Professor Snape said confidently,

“No. That’s ridiculous.” Professor Mcgonagall announced,

“He recreated a safer, easier solution to a potion I’ve been teaching for years in a matter of minutes after looking at the instructions.” He showed the potion the Doctor had made to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly, deep in thought,

“What about his social life? It would be ridiculous to put him in a group of students six years older than him!” Professor Mcgonagall said,

“How about a private lesson?” Professor Snape suggested, Professor Dumbledore nodded,

“That sounds reasonable. Remus?” Professor Dumbledore now addressed Professor Lupin,

“Third year.” He said, deciding it was a good middle-ground because he’d only seen the Doctor on the train in the midst of his attack, and in the classroom with the boggart. Professor Dumbledore nodded,

“Minerva?”

“I don’t know Albus.” Professor Mcgonagall admitted, his Transfiguration was flawless. I would like him in for a private lesson.” Professor Dumbledore said,

“He can add some extra curriculars.” Professor Mcgonagall nodded, “Fillius?”

“He was flawless in charms after a little help with his wand work.” Professor Flitwick said, then, agreeing with Professor Lupin’s decision, said, “Third year.”

“What about flying? Should we remove him?” Professor Dumbledore asked Madam Hooch?

“No. He could barely get off the ground.”

“First year then. What about astronomy Aurora?” Professor Sinistra, the astronomy teacher,

“I haven’t had him yet, so we should keep him in first year.” Professor Dumbledore nodded silently,

“I would like you to notify him of this alteration at breakfast.” Professor Dumbledore said to Professor Mcgonagall, than the meeting dispersed.


	9. The Trip to the Hospital Wing

Breakfast the next morning was not particularly pleasant for the Doctor. What happened with Defence Against the Dark Arts had spread all around the school, and as a first year, everyone seemed to find it easy to push him around. So he and Jack retreated to the library. “So much for ‘acting normal’ Doctor.” Jack laughed. The Doctor forced a smile, but didn’t fool Jack in the slightest. All of a sudden, Professor Mcgonagall came rushing in,

“There you are!” they looked up, “Mr. Smith, I have your new schedule.” She handed him a schedule, “you have been placed in a private lesson for potions and Transfiguration, third year classes for Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms.” The Doctor nodded as the Professor continued, “You’ll also need a minimum of three electives.” She handed him a list,

_The Study of Ancient Runes_

_Muggle Studies_

_Divination_

_Care of Magical Creatures_

_Arithmancy_

_Alchemy_

The Doctor looked up at Professor Mcgonagall, “I have taken the liberty to sign you up for all of them. I would encourage you to go to each class, and inform me if you’d like to drop out of any of them.” The Doctor nodded,

“And I’d like you to meet Professor Dumbledore in his office after lunch today.”

“Okay.”

“And Madam Pomfrey would like to see you in the hospital wing.”

“What?” the Doctor was on his feet now,

“Just to make sure everything is in order,”

“No, I’m fine, please, I, uh, need to-”

“No, you are coming with me now.” She grabbed the Doctor’s hand, he struggled against her iron grip, but as a kid, he wasn’t able to resist. She brought him to the hospital wing and saw the woman who had been in Professor Mcgonagall’s office on his first day. Madam Pomfrey took him from Professor Mcgonagall, she gave him a friendly smile, but it looked more fascinated then comforting.

“Is there any specific reason I’m here Madam Pomfrey?” He asked, looking for a way out of this,

“Just making sure everything’s in order after the train and everything.” She smiled, the Doctor caught the lie,

“But you already deemed me free to go in Professor Mcgonagall’s office.”

“Yes, but we just want to make sure.” She said, “And we also didn’t get any paperwork from you somehow, so we need to ask you some questions.” The Doctor nodded, “Any allergies?”

“Yes, Aspirin.” He said, deciding that it was important for the nurse to know the one thing she could do accidently to kill him, she nodded, clearly it wasn’t that unusual as an allergy.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

“Any past health problems?”

“No.” She nodded, then pulled a stethoscope out. _Of course she checked my heartbeat._ The Doctor thought, _why couldn’t she just have left it alone?_ She looked at him,

“Your heartbeat is exceptionally erratic!” She exclaimed,

“Yes, it’s an-er health condition.” She looked at him suspiciously,

“Yes.” He nodded, “I have two hearts. It’s a rare medical condition.” He said convincingly, “It’s not harmful.” He assured her,

“Is there a doctor I can speak to who knows about your condition?” Madam Pomfrey asked, his eyes lit up, remembering the one person who would understand the situation,

“Yes. Doctor Martha Jones. She’s from UNIT.” She nodded,

“I will contact her and once I get word I will call you back here.” The Doctor nodded.


	10. The Legilimency Lesson

As soon as he could, the Doctor met up with Jack in the library and explained his situation. “That was a good idea to recommend Martha, but we need to contact her first.” Jack said, the Doctor nodding in agreement.

“I’d like to use your wristband communicator.” The Doctor said, Jack nodded and handed him his communicator. The Doctor typed in Martha’s information and after a few seconds, she picked up.

“Hello?” Her face was projected in a blue light above the wristband. She could see them too, and was unsure who this was, “Jack?” she seemed to be looking around for the adult man,

“Yeah, uh, we’ve encountered a de-aging gun.” Jack watched Martha laugh for a solid five minutes, before gasping for breath while Jack said,

“Are you done?” In a mildly irritated manor,

“What do you need?” She asked in an amused tone, looking at the immortal man and the Time Lord as children,

“We’re trying to find a solution, so we’ve chosen to hide out at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” Jack said, Martha nodded, “It’s been hard for the Doctor,” he gestured to the unusually silent Time Lord to his left, “And they’ve figured out about his two hearts.” Martha nodded again, seeing where this was going and some potential problems in the future for them, “And so he said it’s a medical condition.” Jack said, going off of what the Doctor had said, but The Doctor took it from there,

“You might want to write this down so it doesn’t look like I was lying.” The Doctor said, watching Martha nod again as she pulled up a pad of paper and a pen, “Jack and I are orphans who found ourselves exposed to numerous wizards and spell books when we took residence in the _Leaky Cauldron_ for an extended period of time. I have a rare medical condition where I have two hearts, and I am allergic to Aspirin.” The Doctor recited the information he had given to either Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore. Martha finished writing it all down, then asked,

“Why don’t you come back to my place for the winter holidays and I can help in figuring everything out.” The Doctor nodded, agreeing that that was the best choice for them.

“That sounds good. We’ll meet you at Kings Cross for the holiday. Keep in touch.” The hologram of Martha disappeared and the Doctor made his way out of the library to get to his Ancient Runes class.

As expected, Ancient Runes was incredibly easy. Being someone who knew every language in the universe, he knew every single rune and what it meant. The Professor must have told Professor Dumbledore, because Professor Mcgonagall gave him an updated schedule at lunch after Muggle Studies that no longer had those two classes.

After lunch, the Doctor made his way to Professor Dumbledore’s office. He arrived at the gargoyle that guarded the office. “May I please enter?” The Doctor asked,

“Do you have the password?”

“No?”

“Then you can’t come in.”

“But what if I was invited?”

“Then you’d have been given a password.”

“Do you have a name?” The Doctor asked,

“What?” The gargoyle said, surprised,

“A name, do you have one?”

“No one’s ever asked me that before.”

“So, do you have one?”

“No.”

“But what do you call yourself?”

“Just, the Guardian.”

“That’s not all that strange, I call myself the Doctor.”

“Why?”

“It’s a promise.”

“What kind of promise?”

“A promise to always help. That’s what doctors do.”

“That’s very mature of you.”

“Thank you, but why do you call yourself the Guardian?”

“Because I guard?”

“Exactly, it’s a promise for you too. You’re here to protect the Headmaster’s office.” The guardian seemed to think about this for a moment. “I will let the headmaster know you’re here.” After a moment, the gargoyle stepped aside, “Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you, Doctor.”

“Thank you very much, Guardian.” The Doctor smiled,

“Hello Mr. Smith.” Professor Dumbledore greeted him as he walked in the door.

“Hello Professor Dumbledore.”

“Did Professor Mcgonagall tell you why you are here?”

“No sir.”

“Well, I would like to teach you the art of Occlumency.” The Doctor’s eyes narrowed, not liking the idea of the professor wanting to get into his head. Not that he was concerned. He knew he could defend his mind from the headmaster. But he didn’t mind making it through the lesson, knowing there was no way Professor Dumbledore could get into his head.

“Okay.”

“You’ll need your wand out.” The Doctor pulled his wand out and faced Professor Dumbledore who softly said, “I am about to break into your mind, brace yourself, now… _Legilimens!_ ” Clearly Professor Dumbledore had expected a hard forced entry into the Doctor’s mind, but instead, it was like hitting a brick wall and Professor Dumbledore was shoved back inside his own head. He looked on in shock, “How-” the Doctor looked at him,

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” Professor Dumbledore could tell something was off, he wasn’t being the sweet, clever, confident, happy, boy. He was angry, he was so angry. He could tell why they wanted him to learn Occlumency, they knew they were prodding him, he knew. And he could tell by the way he had been trying to break into his head, what he was looking for. The truth. The honest truth.

“Let’s try again.” He said, “ _Legilimens!_ ’ This time Professor Dumbledore was looking at a more precise place, clearly trying as hard as he could to infiltrate the Doctor’s mind, but once again, the Doctor pushed him out again. Professor Dumbledore looked at the Doctor again, he looked in his eyes. He hadn’t noticed this before, but his eyes were ancient. His eyes were so old. So old and so full of rage, he was clearly not happy with his second attempt. “Why don’t you go back to your common room?” Professor Dumbledore suggested, shocking himself. He would normally not give in to someone, especially a student, so easily, but the boy, this mysterious ‘John Smith’ scared him somehow, which was exceptianally strange for him. He’d fought Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort himself, and yet when he saw the little boy’s rage, it scared him. He was just a little boy, but his rage had clearly not been the immature nature that is most little boy’s rage. It was an ancient, mature rage. He watched the boy walk off, and he immediately called Professor Mcgonagall and Professor Snape to his office to discuss.


	11. The Prophecy

The Doctor’s next class was Divination in the North Tower. The Doctor sprinted up the stairs, and into the classroom. He was the first one there besides the Professor. She was sitting by a crystal ball. The Doctor turned his back, but behind him heard,

 _“Your song is ending.”_ The Doctor whipped around, shocked at the reminder of the prophecy the Ood had made. The professor had gone rigid in her armchair; her eyes were unfocused and her mouth sagging.

“Professor!” But she didn’t seem to hear him, at first the Doctor thought it was a seizure, but then he realized it was a prophecy. He watched her eyes begin to roll, and heard the harsh voice,

 _“Time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events of years ago threaten to destroy this future and the present and the past. The darkness holds only one thing; the end of time itself. Your song is ending It is returning through the dark. And then, he will knock four times. Every song must end, and yours is almost finished,”_ The Professor’s head fell forward onto her chest. She made a grunting sort of noise. Then, quite suddenly, her head snapped up again.

“Hello Professor.” The Doctor smiled up at her,

“I’m so sorry, dear boy,” she said dreamily, “the heat of the day, you know… I drifted off for a moment…”

“No, you told a prophecy.” The Doctor informed her,

“Did I?” What was it?”

“It doesn’t matter.” The Doctor dismissed it, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m the first year that will be joining your classes.” She nodded and the Doctor sat down. He watched as students entered the classroom, breathing heavily. Clearly not used to the amount of running-up-stairs as the Doctor had been. He saw Harry, Hermione, and the ginger boy enter the room together, he waved to them, and they joined him.

“Oh, hello John, er, what are you doing here?” Hermione asked him,

“Learning? What are you doing here?”  
“Maybe you’re lost then, this is a third year class.”

“I know.” The Doctor handed her his schedule, her eyes widened,

“What?” Harry said,

“He’s-” Hermione managed to make out,

“Yep.” the Doctor said, popping the ‘p’ enthusiastically,

“I was told by a fourth year that we’d need to get into pairs. Common Ron.” Hermione pulled the startled ginger boy to another table, leaving Harry with the Doctor.

“Hey.” Harry smiled down at the Doctor,

“Hey.”

“I’m sorry about Hermione.”

“It’s fine.” The Doctor laughed, “I’ve had worse.”

“Welcome.” The Professor’s soft, misty voice sounded suddenly from the shadows. “How nice to see you in the physical world at last.” Most people seemed to think she was nuts, but the Doctor understood that she just was more exposed to the psychic field, and the more psychic energy, the more mad they were, as there was only so much the human brain could handle. “Welcome to Divination. My name is Professor Trelawney. You may have not seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye.” Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued, “So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books and only take you so far in this field…” The Doctor knew this was true. Divination was only able to be accessed by those with a better connection to the psychic field. Not much better, not even close to the level the Doctor was at, but better. “Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearances, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. The Gift is granted to few. You, boy,” She said suddenly to the boy the Doctor remembered as Neville Longbottom from Defence against the Dark arts, who almost toppled off his pouf, “Is your grandmother well?”

“I think so.” Neville trembled,

“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you, dear,” Nevilled looked as if he was about to faint, but Professor Trelawney just continued, “We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear, She shot a look to an indian girl close by, “Beware the red-haired man.” The girl shot a look at Ron, who was right behind her, and edged her chair away from him. “In second term,” She continued, “we shall progress to the crystal ball -- if we gave finished with dire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself, will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever.” A very tense silence followed this, but the Professor seemed unaware of it. “I wonder, dear,” She said to a brown haired girl who was nearest, and shrank back into her chair, “if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?” The girl looked relieved, and stood up and passed the teacup. “Thank you my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading -- it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October.” The girl trembled, “Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on it saucer, wait for the last of the tea drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of _Unfogging the Future_. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear” -- she caught Neville by the arm as he made to stand up -- “after you’ve broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I’m rather attached to the pink.”

Sure enough, Neville had no sooner reached the shelf of teacups when there was the sound of glass breaking and Professor Trelawney swept up the broken china, then said, “One of the blue ones, then, dear, if your wouldn’t if you wouldn’t mind… thank you…” The Doctor and Harry swilled the cups as they had been instructed. The Doctor read Harry’s leaves first,

“You’ve got a falcon, a club, a skull, and the grim. This means that you have a deadly enemy, presumably Lord Voldemort, there’s going to be an attack, there’s danger in your path, and, well, the grim represents death, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your death, or that it will be any time soon.” Harry nodded, usually in this situation, he’d be afraid of these results, but the way the boy said it calmed him, he reached for the other cup but the Doctor tapped the top of his hand and warned, “Careful, mine will be loads worse.” Professor Trelawney approached, clearly interested in what Harry’s cup would be like, but then caught a sight of the Doctor’s. Her eyes widened,

“You’ve got the grim!” The Doctor nodded,

“I know.” His response lead her to look deeper into the cup,

“You have lived a long and dangerous life and lost many friends, you have seen war and bloodshed, and your future is unknown, but your end is near.” The Doctor nodded, understanding. The whole class was looking at him, but he paid no attention to them. “What did you make of Harry’s tea leaves?” The Doctor told her of his findings, she nodded, “Your Inner Eye is open.”


	12. Care of Magical Creatures

The third years then went to Transfiguration, so the Doctor headed to his private lesson with Professor Snape. “Ah, Mr. Smith.” He said as the Doctor stepped into the classroom. He then handed the Doctor the forgetfulness potion recipe. “Please recreate the potion.” Professor Snape instructed.

The Doctor soon finished the potion, and also recreated his next potion, the herbicide potion. Once Snape was satisfied with his work, he was sent to his next class, Care of Magical Creatures with the third years. He hadn’t gotten the textbook when he was at Flourish and Blotts at Diagon Alley, and with the new teacher, there weren’t any extras, so when he walked down to to the forest, he caught up with Hermione, hoping she’d be willing to share. “Hello Hermione.” The Doctor said, causing her to jump. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Do you need help with something?” Hermione almost fell down the stone steps,

“Yeah,”

“What with?” Hermione seemed overjoyed that this genius Doctor wanted her help.

“I didn’t expect to be in this class, and I don’t have the textbook. Can you share yours?” Hermione’s heart seemed to drop. She rolled her eyes and stormed off ahead of him. But Harry walked up to him, clearly having heard their conversation.

“Sorry about her.” Harry said again, “You can share my book if you want.”

“Thanks.” The Doctor saw the Professor, Professor Hagrid as he remembered from the great hall, waiting for the class at the door of his hut. He wore a large moleskin overcoat, with a large boarhound at his heels, looking impatient.

“C’mon, now, get a move on!” He was calling as the class approached, the Doctor could tell by the combination of red and green robes, that this was a class with the Slytherins, not that he had any problem with that. Unlike most other students, he didn’t judge people by their house. “Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin’ up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!” They followed Professor Hagrid as they strolled around the trees, and four minutes and 54 seconds later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing there. “Gather ‘round the fence here!” He called, “That’s it-- make sure yeh can see -- now, firs’ thing yeh’ll want ter do is open yer books --” The Doctor grabbed Harry’s book, and began to stroke the spine of the book, he wasn’t quite sure why, but it was instinct. The struggling book calmed down, and the Doctor removed the belt holding it together. He opened it to Harry’s astonishment, just as the young blonde boy who had pushed him in Defence Against the Dark Arts drawled,

“How?”

“Eh?” Professor Hagrid turned to him, but the Doctor answered instead,

“You need to stroke the spine.” The entire class turned to the young boy.

“Oh, we were warned about you.” The boy slyly walked up to the Doctor, clearly the Doctor being in higher classes had traveled around the school quickly, probably by Hermione because she had seen his schedule. He towered over the Doctor’s small size, so the Doctor stuck his hand out, and said,

“John Smith, and you are?” The boy knocked the Doctor’s hand aside,

“My name is Draco Malfoy.” He drawled, and pushed the Doctor over again,

“It’s nice to meet you Draco.” The Doctor grinned, knowing his friendliness was frustrating to the Slytherin boy.

“I thought they were funny.” Professor Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione,.

“Oh, tremendously funny!” Malfoy rounded on the professor, “Really witty, giving us books that try to rip our hands off!”

“Shut up Malfoy.” Harry said quietly, clearly wanting the professor’s first lesson to be a success.

“Righ’ then,” Professor Hagrid said, “So -- so yeh’ve got yer books an’ -- an’ now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I’ll go an’ get ‘em. Hang on…” He strode away out of sight, and Draco loudly murmured,

“This place is going to the dogs. That oaf teaching classes, my father’ll have a fit when I tell him --” He refered to Professor Hagrid being a half-giant.

“Shut up Malfoy.” The Doctor and Harry said in unison, the Doctor was getting pretty fed up with all the discrimination,

“Careful, Potter, there’s a dementor behind you --” The Doctor didn’t even bother look around, knowing with his heightened psychic sensitivity, he would have passed out by now if there was one behind him. He grabbed Harry’s hand to stop him from turning and instead pointed to the opposite side of the paddock. Trotting toward them were a dozen beautiful creatures. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-coloured beaks and large, brilliant orange eyes. The talons of their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of the paddock behind the creatures.

“Gee up, there!” he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone except the Doctor drew back slightly as Professor Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence,

“Hippogriffs!” the Doctor exclaimed excitedly, he had read about them and had found the creatures fascinating. Professor Hagrid seemed overjoyed that the Doctor knew what they were,

“So, if you want to come a bit nearer --” Professor Hagrid began rubbing his hands together. No one seemed to want to except the Doctor, but he then saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione cautiously approach the fence.

“Now, firs’ thing yeh gotta know abou’ hippogriffs is, they’re proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don’t never insult one, ‘cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer the hippogriffs ter make the firs’ move. It’s polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an’ yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh’re allowed ter touch him. If he doesn’ bow, then get away from him sharpish, ‘cause those talons hurt.

“Right -- who wants ter go first?” Most of the class backed further away in answer, even Harry, Ron, and Hermione took a few steps back, as the hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn’t seem to like being tethered like this. The Doctor’s hand shot up,

“I’ll do it!” There was an intake of breath behind him,

“Good man, er-”

“John.” The Doctor smiled,

“Good man, John!” Professor Hagrid roared happily, “Right then -- let’s see how yeh get on with him.” He untied one of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath. Draco’s eyes were narrowing maliciously.

“Buckbeak doesn’t like the collar.” The Doctor said,

“Buckbeak?”

“That’s his name.” Professor Hagrid nodded in confusion. The Doctor walked slowly towards the hippogriff, making sure not to blink much.

“Hello.” The Doctor said to Buckbeak as he bowed to him,

“ _Hello_ ” Buckbeak responded, bowing back,

“I’m sorry about the humans.”

“ _Thanks. It’s not bad. Hagrid is a good man._ ”

“That’s good.”

“ _Yes._ ”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but may I please stroke you?”

“ _Yes you may, thank you for asking._ ” The Doctor began to stroke the hippogriff, he made a pleased grunt. The Doctor looked around at the other students gaping at him, knowing they had heard his part of the conversation, but not Buckbeak’s response.

“He likes yeh.” Professor Hagrid smiled, as the rest of the class stared at the tiny boy in awe petting this enormous creature.

“Righ’ then, John, I reckon he might’ let yeh ride him!” Unsure, the Doctor asked the hippogriff,

“May I please ride you?”

“ _You may, as long as you’re careful not to pull out any feathers_ ”

“Of course.” The Doctor said,

“ _You should climb up just behind the wing joint._ ” He instructed, the Doctor listened to him, and, to Professor Hagrid’s surprise, climbed up him just right.

“Go on, then!” Professor Hagrid roared, slapping the hippogriff’s hindquarters. Buckbeak flapped his twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side of the Doctor. It was much more comfortable than the broom. He told him this,

“ _Thank you._ ” Buckbeak responded, as they flew circles above the trees.

Soon, Professor Hagrid called them back down, and Buckbeak made a smooth landing. “Good work John!” the professor called, and everyone except Draco, and the two Slytherin boys beside him, cheered. “Okay, who else wants a go?”

Encouraged by the small boy’s success, the rest of the class climbed over the paddock. Soon, one by one, people were bowing nervously, all over thee paddock. Neville kept repeatedly running backwards from his, which didn’t seem to want to bend its knees, so the Doctor walked over to help him,

“What’s your name?” He asked the hippogriff,

“ _Flowplume._ ” The Doctor nodded and continued to speak with the hippogriff while Neville watched in wonder, but then, the Doctor turned to him, “Calm your body and take a deep breath.” Neville looked around, watching Draco and his two friends laughing visibly about him getting help from a first year, but he turned back and listened to him. “Walk slowly, and don’t blink as much, and bend lower. You want to get your body as close to a ninety degree angle as possible.” Neville nodded, and walked slowly to him, and bowed. To his surprise, the hippogriff bowed as well. He then went to stroke the hippogriff. The Doctor turned away, and saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione petting Chestnut. He then saw Draco and his two friends with Talon, Draco was disdainfully patting his beak.

“This is very easy.” The boy drawled, “I know it must have been, if that pathetic John Smith could do it… I bet you’re not dangerous at all, are you?” He addressed the hippogriff, “Are you, you great ugly brute?”

“No!” In an instant, the Doctor was in front of Draco and took the brunt of the attack. But the hippogriff backed off, the moment he knew whom he had hit.

“ _I’m sorry._ ” It whispered to him,

“It’s fine, I’m fine, don’t worry.” The Doctor was talking more to the hippogriff than to the teacher looming over his aching body. The Doctor pulled himself up, and the professor attempted to grab him, but he pulled away. He looked at Draco on the ground, gaping. So surprised that a Gryffindor would risk himself for a Slytherin boy who had been nothing but cruel to him.

“I’m gonna take yeh teh the hospital wing.” Professor Hagrid said,

“No, don’t worry, I’m fine.” The Doctor said, wincing at the pain. The claw had gone to the bone, but not through it. But being a Time Lord, he healed faster than humans, so he could already see it healing, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in a great amount of pain.

“Ye’re alright’?”

“Yep.” The Doctor grinned, popping the ‘p’.

“Very well, carry on.” The professor said timidly. Most of the students turned back to their hippogriffs, but Draco and his friends backed away from theirs. Harry approached the Doctor,

“Are you okay, John?”

“Yeah,” The Doctor smiled, then heard a whine from Buckbeak, “You should say hi to Buckbeak, he really seems to like you.” Harry nodded, confused, and turned to the beautiful creature. The Doctor turned back to Talon, “Don’t worry about this.” The Doctor smiled at him,

“ _I thank you for your forgiveness._ ” Talon replied,

“John!” The Doctor wheeled around to see Hermione storming over to him.

“Yes Hermione?”

“What spell are you using?” She demanded,

“What?”

“How are you talking to the hippogriffs?”

“I speak hippogriff.”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“I speak everything.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Hermione stormed off once again.


	13. The Arrival of the TARDIS

It was day three. The day the Doctor had been waiting for. Today, the TARDIS landed. The Doctor and Jack met during some free time to search the grounds for the TARDIS. It didn’t take long to find it, as it was right on the outskirts of the grounds. He ran to it, despite Jack’s shouts of warning that he didn’t even hear. The moment he stepped off the grounds dementors were swarming him. His vision blurred and he was on the ground, his head felt like it was splitting in half, and once again he saw them. Susan, Barbara, Ian, Vicki, Steven, Katarina, Sara, Dod, Polly, Ben, Jamie, Victoria, Zoe, Liz, Jo, Harry, Leela, Romana, Adric, Tegan, Nyssa, Vislor, Kamelion, Peri, Melanie, Ace, Rose, she always hurt the most, Adam, Jack, Genny, Martha, River Song, Donna-

“Doctor!” It was Jack’s voice, the Doctor looked wildly around, he was in the same place, on the ground, Jack bent over him, and another face, Professor Lupin was looking down at him as well.

“Are you alright?” The Professor asked,

“Yeah,” The Doctor said, jumped up, and immediately regretted it. His head swam in the visions he’d just seen. Jack caught him as he came crashing to the ground,

“No you’re not.” Jack said, then turned to Professor Lupin, “He doesn’t need the hospital wing, he just needs sleep in his common room. You can contact our guardian, Martha Jones, ask Madam Pomfrey. Professor Lupin nodded, then handed the Doctor some chocolate.

“Fine, but he has to eat that.” The Doctor nodded in agreement, “And if this happens again I am taking you to the hospital wing. The Doctor and Jack nodded, then Jack helped the Doctor walk to his common room.

Because of what happened, Professor Lupin contacted Professor Dumbledore and exempted the two of them from classes for that day. So they decided to meet in the Doctor’s room, despite it being in the Gryffindor dormitory. “It’s nice in here, but I prefer the Slytherin dormitory.” Jack said after taking a long look at the Doctor’s dormitory, “Green is a more calming colour than the red here.” The Doctor nodded,

“I don’t like the violent colour either.” The Doctor said. There was a long pause, then Jack said,

“Doctor, what do you see when the dementors are there?” Jack asked, the Doctor looked at him, “Sorry,” Jack immediately said, “I know it’s not my place.”

“It’s fine.” The Doctor said,

“Is it Rose?” The name felt cold in Jack’s mouth, but he knew it was nothing compared to what the Doctor felt.

“Yes,” The Doctor sighed sadly, “And so much more.”

“Who else?” Jack asked soothingly,

“It doesn’t matter.” The Doctor said,

“Yes it does. We both know it does. But if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.” Jack said. The Doctor nodded, grateful he didn’t have to think about what he saw.

“We need to start getting on with this re-aging research.” The Doctor changed the subject suddenly,

“Yeah, I agree.” Jack gave in to the sudden change, knowing it was important to do this research, “Maybe the library has something.” The Doctor nodded in agreement and they headed down to the library,

“I’m going to take a leap and guess they’re in the restricted section.” Jack said, the Doctor nodded in agreement, pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and unlocked the door to the restricted section of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, quickly saw them enter and hurried up to them,

“Excuse me! You need a signed form to enter the restricted section.” She said,

“We do.” The Doctor said confidently, handing the woman his psychic paper. She examined it, then said,

“Of course. I should have expected Professor Snape would want you reading this.” Then walked away.

Jack and the Doctor spent ages looking through books to no success. “What might you be looking for?” A soft, kind, voice sounded behind them. The Doctor and Jack jumped around to find Professor Dumbledore.

“Professor Dumbledore!” Jack exclaimed, looking at the man,

“Ah, hello Mr. Harkness, Mr. Smith.”

“Hello Professor.” The Doctor looked at him,

“What might you be looking for?” The Professor repeated,

“Just a book.” Jack said,

“What kind of book?” The Doctor nodded to Jack, knowing the only way they would convince Professor Dumbledore to help was with the truth, or at least some of it.

“I’d like a book on the spell for re-ageing.” Professor Dumbledore looked at him suspiciously,

“Childhood is important Mr. Smith. It’s not something you can just skip.”

“I’ve had a long enough childhood.”

“I don’t believe that’s true.”

“No one takes me seriously as a child.” The Doctor pointed out,

“I’m sorry Mr. Smith.” Professor Dumbledore said, “My decision is final.”

“Yes sir.” The Doctor nodded, but it didn’t stop him from continuing to look through the shelves.

After an unsuccessful library attempt, the Doctor and Jack decided to take a visit to Professor Snape.

“Hello Professor.” The Doctor said as he walked in,

“Ah, Mr. Smith! What is it that you need?” He asked,

“I was reading about a re-ageing potion, and I thought it would make an excellent challenge.” Professor Snape nodded,

“I’m sorry Mr. Smith,” Professor Snape said, “But unfortunately a re-aging potion is not legal to make until you have passed your seventeenth birthday. Otherwise underaged wizards will use it to become of-age.” The Doctor nodded in understanding,

“But could you walk me through the steps of it next time we meet?”

“I’m not sorry, I am unable to do that for you.”

“Okay. Thank you sir.” The Doctor said, disappointed. He and Jack walked back to the dormitory, opening the portrait, only to find many of the Gryffindors back in there already. He was about to let Jack in, when a tall sixth year girl walked up to them,

“What do you think you’re doing?” She asked the Doctor,

“Returning to my House dormitory?” The Doctor said, pretending to be oblivious to her glares at Jack’s Slytherin robes,

“And why is _he_ here?” She pointed an accusing finger at Jack,

“Because he’s my friend.” He smiled, “Don’t you have friends?” Jack smirked at the Doctor’s comment,

“Not from Slytherin.” She said, clearly insulted by the Doctor’s comment,

“Why not?” The Doctor asked,

“Because, Slytherins aren’t to be trusted.” She said angrily, clearly fed up with the Doctor. He rolled his eyes, so the Doctor waved goodbye to Jack who departed. He shot an angry glance at the girl, and walked through the portrait hole and up to his dormitory.


	14. Winter Break

No progress was made on a de-aging spell, and the Doctor found it impossible to get his hands on the potion recipe, nevermind any of the ingredients. Before he knew it, the winter holidays were upon them. There had been some excitement in the school, but the Doctor’s senses were all blaring out that this was a fixed point, and that he mustn't interfere with it. The Doctor and Jack made their way to the Hogwarts Express. Jack had told Martha about the Doctor’s reaction to the dementors, despite the Doctor’s attempts to keep her out of the loop. She had excused him from ever being checked out by the hospital wing, and managed to convince the school that they were just very exposed to magic as children, and educated early on about it.

The Doctor and Jack stepped off the train and met Martha at the station. “Hey boys.” She giggled as they approached with his belongings. They shot her a glare,

“Don’t you dare.” The Doctor grumbled,

“You’ve got to admit, it’s kind of funny Doctor.” She grinned,

“Don’t start.” He grumbled.

Martha drove them to her house and set them up in the seperate bedroom. “So, what are we going to do about this?” Martha asked as they sat around the table for dinner,

“Well, all of the recipes for the ageing potion are restricted for someone of our appeared age, so you’ll have to do it.” The Doctor reasoned,

“Wait, what am I doing?” Martha asked, alarmed,

“I need you to come with us to Diagon Alley and buy some stuff for us- don’t worry I’ve got money.” Martha nodded,

“Alright, Doctor.”

“Excellent.”

 

They went to Diagon Alley the next morning, Martha gazing around in wonder. “How does UNIT not know about all of this?”

“Oh, they do!” The Doctor smiled at Martha’s gaping mouth, “They’ve got a whole sector designated to it. They help the British government and the wizarding government work together.” Martha was still standing in a stunned silence, when the Doctor pulled her into a dark alley.

“Where are we going?” She asked, as they furthered themselves into the dark alley filled with people in dark cloaks,

“Knockturn Alley.” The Doctor pulled her further down it. Finally, they arrived at a shop, and the Doctor pulled Martha in, Jack following closely behind. The Doctor had already told Martha what to say, so she stood up straight to the cashier, and said

“I’d like a potion book on re-ageing.” The man nodded,

“Ageing up your boys, are you?”

“That’s none of your business.” Martha said confidently, and the man dropped the book on the counter.

“Fifteen galleons.”

“That’s ridiculous.” The Doctor stated, knowing full well that the man could tell that Martha was a muggle and was trying to overcharge her.”

“Fine, ten galleons.”

“I’ll give you two.”

“Two! I’ll do no less than seven!”

“Fine, I’ll give you five.”

“Deal.” Though it was still overpriced, the Doctor knew he wouldn’t go cheaper. Martha dropped the golden coins in the man’s hand. He counted, then nodded, letting Martha pick up the book, and the three of them walked back to Diagon Alley. The Doctor looked at the ingredients list. Acromantula Venom. The Doctor concluded that there must be Acromantulas in the forbidden forest. Acromantulas are like giant carnivorous spiders capable of human speech. The next ingredient was a Chimaera tail. A Chimaera looked like it had a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a dragon’s tail. It was known as vicious and bloodthirsty, but lived in Greek, so that would have to be bought. Then came Doxy wings. Doxys were like fairies, but had had an extra pair of arms and legs, rows of sharp teeth, and were covered in thick black hair, but they would be found in the forbidden forest. There were a number of other ingredients, like Plimpy legs, Shrake fins, and Billywig stings, but all of that could be found in Diagon Alley.

After buying everything except the Acromantula Venom and Doxy wings, they headed back to Martha’s. While Martha babbled about the wondrous things she saw in the alley, Jack and the Doctor looked down at the potion recipe. “It has to be brewed on a new moon.” The Doctor told Jack,

“Okay,” Jack said, “When’s the next new moon?”

“January 22nd.” Jack nodded,

“And until then we just wait?”

“When we get back to Hogwarts we need to find Doxy wings and Acromantula venom.” Jack nodded,

“Well, Allons-y Doctor.”

“Allons-y.”


	15. The Patronus

When the Doctor returned to Hogwarts, he didn’t expect Harry and Ron to be ignoring Hermione. From what he could tell, the three of them were inseparable. “Where’s Hermione?” The Doctor asked Harry, whom had been quite friendly with the Doctor,

“Probably in the library.” Harry shrugged,

“Then why aren’t _you_ in the library?” He prodded,

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got a long time.” Harry shrugged and began,

“I recently got a package, for Christmas, and, well, it didn’t have a note or anything, I haven’t a clue who it’s from, and so Hermione told Professor Mcgonagall, and she confiscated it.” The Doctor nodded,

“Well, she’ll give it back, once it’s been declared safe.” Harry shrugged,

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Hermione needs you as a friend. You need to talk to her.” Harry nodded,

“Thanks John, but there’s something else.”

“Yes?”

“Remember when Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak?”

“Yeah?”

“His dad’s mad. He’s trying to have Buckbeak executed, and knowing him, he will succeed.” The Doctor nodded,

“If you can help me, I can help you.” Harry looked at the Doctor, puzzled,

“What do I need to do?”

“There’s a big blue police box on the edge of the grounds. If you can get me into that, I can save Buckbeak.”

“What?”

“It’ll make sense when we get there.” The Doctor assured him. Harry shrugged,

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Later that afternoon, the Doctor was approached by Professor Lupin while walking with Jack. “John!” The professor called,

“Yes?” The Doctor and Jack both spun around,

“I’d like you and Mr. Harry Potter to meet me eight o’clock Thursday evening in the History of Magic classroom for some anti-dementor lessons. Are you up for that?”

“Yes sir.” The Doctor said eagerly, excited to learn how to further defend his mind against these creatures,

“Uh, can I come?” Jack asked, the Doctor nodded, knowing that although Jack saw nothing as bad as the Doctor saw, he still had his own demons. Seeing the Doctor’s nod, Professor Lupin sighed,

“I’m sorry, but it is too advanced for you to join us.”

“Oh, alright.” The Doctor looked at his friend’s disappointment,

“Sorry.”

By Thursday, Harry and Hermione had made up, though Ron was still bitter. At eight o’clock, Harry and the Doctor walked down from the Gryffindor dormitory to Professor Binns’ classroom. The classroom was dark and empty, so the Doctor lit the lamps with his wand. They only had to wait five minutes for the professor to arrive, carrying a large packing case, which he heaved onto Professor Binns’ desk.

“What’s that?” Harry asked,

“Another boggart.” Professor Lupin said, stripping off his cloak. “I’ve been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and, very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch’s filing cabinet. It’s the nearest we’ll get to a real dementor. The boggart will turn into a dementor when he sees you,” He indicated to Harry, “So we’ll be able to practice on him. You,” He indicated to the Doctor, “Will have to do it from the sides.” The two boys nodded, and Professor Lupin pulled out his wand and indicated that the two of them should do the same, “So, the spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.”

“How does it work?” Harry asked nervously,

“Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus, which is a kind of anti-dementor, a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor. The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon, -- hope, happiness, the desire to survive, -- but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wiards have difficulty with it.” They nodded,

“What does a Patronus look like?” Harry asked suddenly,

“Each is unique to the wizard who conjures it.” Professor Lupin explained,

“And how do you conjure it?”

With an incantation which will only work if you are concentrating with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.” The Doctor tried to think back to a happy memory. There were so many, but they all ended with tragedy. Rose kept popping up. Her smile, her laugh, the way she would tell him off. He missed everything about her, but every time he thought about her, his mind went to when he lost her.

“Right.” Harry pulled the Doctor out of his own head,

“The incantation is this,” Professor Lupin cleared his throat, “ _Expecto patronum!_ ”

“ _Expecto patronum._ ” The Doctor heard Harry repeat under his breath, “ _expecto patronum._ ”

“Concentrating hard on your happy memory?” Professor Lupin asked,

“Oh, yeah.” Harry said, the Doctor could tell that he hadn’t been. The Doctor closed his eyes, _Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose._ He tried to block out Canary Wharf.

“Did you see that?” Harry dragged the Doctor from his mind, clearly Harry had some success.

“Are you ready to try on a dementor?” Professor Lupin asked the two of them. The Doctor shrugged,

“I guess.” he said, Harry nodded eagerly. Professor Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled. A dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned towards Harry. The Doctor felt it, he fell to the floor.

“ _Expecto Patronum!_ ” He cried, desperately thinking of Rose. He heard Harry shouting the spell as well, then, he was consumed by the dark blackness.

“John! Harry!” The Doctor was jerked back to consciousness. He tried to jump up, and nearly toppled back over, but caught himself on the desk. Harry was coming back as well.

“Sorry.” He heard Harry murmur,

“Are you alright?” Professor Lupin asked them,

“Yes.” The Doctor nodded,

“Yes…” Harry echoed,

“Here.” The Doctor was handed a chocolate frog,

“Your memories, what did you choose?”

“The first time I rode a broom.” Harry said,

“No, no, you’ll need something stronger, what about you?” Professor Lupin turned to the Doctor,

“A- a friend of mine.” The Doctor felt the memories of Rose stab at his mind.

“You’ll need something stronger.” Professor Lupin laughed, the Doctor felt his mind darken. But he pushed it away. He tried to ignore Rose and focus on his granddaughter, Susan. His sweet sweet Susan. He had to leave her behind. She needed a place to call home. They tried again with no avail. Both the Doctor and Harry found themselves on the floor once again. Harry was mumbling,

“I heard my dad, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him, -- he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it…” Tears slid down Harry’s face,

“You heard James?” Professor Lupin was saying. The Doctor picked himself up, happy that he wasn’t being spoken to. He didn’t want to think about what he saw. After a while, the Doctor heard Harry yell,

“No! I’ll have one more go!” Pulling him back to the present.

“Do you have a more powerful memory?” Professor Lupin asked the Doctor, the Doctor closed his eyes,

“Yes.”

“Ready? Three… two… one!” The chest was pulled open, and the Doctor closed his eyes. He remembered Gallifrey, before the war. The beautiful planet, the second sun that rose in the south, making the mountains shine. The vast mountain ranges had fields of deep red grass, capped with snow. The silver leaves on the trees, and when they caught the light every morning looked like a forest on fire.

“ _Expecto patronum!_ ” The Doctor and Harry’s voices rang out at once. A large silver shadow came flying out of Harry’s wands and hovered between him and the dementor.

“ _Riddikulus!_ ” Professor Lupin cried, and sprang forwards. There was a loud crack, and the dementor disappeared.

“Excellent! Excellent, Harry! That’s definitely a start. Harry, what were you thinking of?”  
“My parents.” Harry said, “Just, talking to me.” Professor Lupin nodded,

“John, what were you thinking of?”

“My old home.” The Doctor said sadly,

“That’s not nearly strong enough.” Professor Lupin laughed. “Do you have someone you miss maybe? A lost friend who moved away?” The Doctor felt rage rise up inside him. He starred Professor Lupin right in the eyes and said,

“My whole family is dead.” Then turned on his heel and walked out of the classroom.


	16. A Meeting with Hagrid

On the 22nd of January, the Doctor and Jack hadn’t been able to begin the re-ageing potion. After getting a tip from Hermione, he and Jack set it up in the bathroom on the third floor where Moaning Myrtle resided. But the Doctor and Jack couldn’t get a chance to sneak into the forbidden forest to get the last ingredients, so they had to wait until February 21st, the next new moon. On Sunday, Hogwarts was broken into, but it screamed of fixed points, so the Doctor made sure not to interfere. That angered Jack. He knew that fixed points couldn’t be interfered with, but he still wanted to help. Since the Doctor refused, he hadn’t been talking to him.That Tuesday, the Doctor was approached by Harry. “Hey, John?”

“Yeah?” The Doctor looked at him, he was holding a crumpled note in his hand.

“Um, Hagrid invited Ron and I to have tea with him, and I was wondering if you’d like to come.”

“Sure.” The Doctor nodded,

“Okay, meet us by the entrance hall at six tonight.”

At six o’clock that night, the Doctor met Harry and Ron in the entrance hall. Professor Hagrid was already waiting for them.

“Hello Professor.” The Doctor said, Hagrid grinned a broad smile, clearly pleased in being called a professor.

“‘Ello Mr. Smith, what’re you doin’ here?”

“I invited him.” Harry said, “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Not at all.” Professor Hagrid smiled, and lead them down to his hut at the edge of the forbidden forest.

The first thing they saw on entering Professor Hagrid’s cabin was Buckbeak, who was stretched out on top of Professor Hagrid’s patchwork quilt, his enormous wings folded tight to his body, enjoying a large plate of dead ferrets. “What are they for, Hagrid?” Harry pointed to a gigantic, hairy brown suit and a very horrible yellow-and-orange tie hanging from the top of the wardrobe door.

“Buckbeak’s case against the Committee fer the Disposal o’ Dangerous Creatures. This Friday, Him an’ me’ll be goin down ter London together. I’ve booked two beds on the Knight Bus…”

“I’m sorry Hagrid.” The Doctor ran his hand down Buckbeak’s beak, Buckbeak purred softly.

“Hey, Professor Hagrid,” The Doctor said once they were settled in the small hut being served cold tea and hard biscuits,

“Yes, John?” Professor Hagrid said,

“What do you know about Acromantulas?” Professor Hagrid seemed surprised by the question, then shot a look at Ron and Harry,

“What’ve You told ‘em?”

“I haven’t said anything!” Harry said,

“Me neither!” Ron replied,

“I had just read about it in my textbook.” The Doctor lied, unsure what they were referring to. Professor Hagrid gave him a suspicious look, but huffed and said,

“An enormous eight-eyed spider, originated in Borneo. Inhabits dense jungle or forests, they’re meat eaters, eh, females are larger than the males, wizard bred.”

“Are there any in the Forbidden Forest?”

“Eh, probably.” Professor Hagrid was sweating quite visibly now, but the Doctor pretended not to notice.

“They’re fascinating creatures.” The Doctor said, Professor Hagrid smiled,

“Yeh, I see you’ve got a way with animals.” He indicated to Juniper, the oversized boarhound the Doctor was petting, “Fang seems teh like yeh.” The Doctor looked down at Juniper,

“Does he really call you that?” He asked the boarhound. Juniper gave a grunt of acknowledgement,

“What do yeh mean?” Professor Hagrid asked,

“He prefers Juniper.” The Doctor informed him,

“How can yeh tell?” Professor Hagrid asked,

“He told me.” The Doctor said,

“Yeah, but how?” Ron asked,

“It’s a long story.” The Doctor said, “What about Doxys?”

“What about ‘em?”

“Are they in the forest too?”

“Yeh, why are yeh askin’?”

“No reason.”

“Yeah right.” Ron mumbled. They spent the rest of the visit discussing Gryffindor’s improved chances for the Quidditch Cup. Once Quidditch had been introduced to the conversation, the Doctor found himself having a pleasant conversation with Juniper.

At nine sixteen, Professor Hagrid walked Harry, Ron, and the Doctor back to the castle. When they returned to their common room, they found a large group of people bunched around the bulletin board.

“Hogsmeade, next weekend!” Ron exclaimed,

“Oh.” The Doctor turned away, planning on returning to his room, but Harry grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, John.” The Doctor turned around,

“Yeah?”

“Well,” Harry began, “There’s a passage to Honeydukes cellar, and, well, I’m going to sneak through. Would you like to come?”

“Yeah. That would be great.”

“Harry!” Hermione had approached them, “I cannot believe this! You can’t do this again! If you go to Hogsmeade again! If you do… I’ll tell Professor McGonagall about the map.”

“What map?” The Doctor looked at the piece of Parchment Harry pulled from his pocket,

“It’s the Marauder's map. It shows all the secret passages and where everyone is all the time.” The Doctor picked it up, while Harry pulled out his wand and uttered, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” Suddenly, the parchment turned into a full map of the castle. He looked at where they stood. It had a dozen names, including Harry’s, Ron’s, and Hermione’s, but the Doctor looked for himself.

“That’s weird. The map’s never done that before.” Ron said, then ran off to find Fred and George, who seemed to be the ones who found it. They ran over, and looked.

“That’s impossible.” Fred whispered, “You literally don’t exist.” The Doctor shrugged. He hadn’t expected his actual name to show up, so he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t exist. Hermione cleared her throat again,

“Sorry Hermione.” The Doctor said, knowing Hermione didn’t like him all that much. Hermione made a sour face, and stormed off to the girls’ dormitory.

“We’ll have to take the invisibility cloak.” The Doctor gave in inquizitive look, and Harry explained, “I got a cloak handed to me through Dumbledore from my dad that makes me totally invisible when I’m under it.” The Doctor nodded, and set off to the boys’ dormitory.


	17. A Trip to Hogsmeade

On Saturday morning, Harry and the Doctor walked together down to breakfast with everyone else. Hermione kept shooting suspicious looks at them, but said nothing. They walked up the marble staircase in the entrance hall as everyone else proceeded to the front doors.

“Bye!” Harry called to Ron, “see you when you get back!” Ron grinned and winked. Together, Harry and the Doctor hurried up to the third floor, slipping the map out, Harry crouched behind the one-eyed witch, smoothing it out. A tiny dot appeared on it with the name _Neville Longbottom_. The Doctor winked at Harry, and while Harry opened the passage, the Doctor went to distract Neville.

“Hey John, what are you up to?” The Doctor tried to read him, trying to find a response,

“I’m going to the dungeons for my study with Professor Snape.”

“Oh.” Neville went a little paler than usual, “Have fun.” Then continued walking. Harry hissed for the Doctor to come once Neville was gone, and together they sipped through the passage.

Harry and the Doctor emerged into the sunlight outside Honeydukes, hidden beneath the invisibility cloak. Harry silently prodded Ron in the back and whispered, “It’s us.” The three of them set off up the High Street. They looked through the shops, all favoring Zonko’s Joke Shop. It was packed with students, so the Doctor and Harry had to be careful not to tread on any toes and cause a panic. It was filled with jokes and tricks to fulfill even Fred and George’s wildest dreams; Harry slid a surprising amount of gold to Ron, and they all left with their pockets full.

The day was fine and breezy, so neither Harry nor Ron wanted to go indoors, so the Doctor followed them. They climbed a slope to visit the Shrieking Shack, rumored to be the most haunted dwelling in Britain. It stood a little way above the rest of the village, and even in the daylight was slightly creepy, with its boarded windows and dank overgrown garden. “Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it.” Ron said when they got there, “I asked Nearly Headless Nick… he says he’s heard a very rough crowd lives here. No one can get in. Fred and George tried, obviously, but all the entrances are sealed shut…”

“Too bad they’re not here now, I’m going in.” The Doctor said,

“No way! We’ll die!” Ron said, then, they began to hear the voices of Draco Malfoy and the two boys he hung around. Draco was speaking,

“...should have an owl from Father any time now. He had to go to the hearing to tell them about the attack. I really wish I could hear that great hairy moron trying to defend himself…’There’s no ‘arm in ‘im, ‘onest… That hippogriff’s as good as dead-” They caught sight of Ron. His pale face split in a malevolent grin. “What are you doing, Weasley?” Draco looked at the crumbling house behind Ron. “Suppose you’d love to live here, wouldn’t you, Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your family all sleep in one room. Is that true?” The Doctor put an invisible hand on Ron’s shoulder to calm him, but instead it seemed to give him an idea, and said,

“Did you tell your daddy that you were saved by a first-year?” Draco’s face dropped, and Ron continued, “And a Gryffindor at that. I think if your dad knew, he wouldn’t be proud.” Draco gestured for his friends to go, and angrily stormed away.

“Now, let’s see what’s in that shack.” The Doctor grinned.

Getting into the shack was difficult, as the sonic screwdriver didn’t work on wood. But, with the help of a few complex spells, he managed to get in through a part in the wall that wasn’t nearly as protected as the windows or door. They pushed through, Harry and the Doctor pulling of Harry’s invisibility cloak. The room was very disoriented and dusty, paper was peeling from the walls, there were stains on the floor, and every piece of furniture was broken as though someone or something had smashed it. There were claw marks on the wall, he could tell it was from a large creature. On his right in a dark corner, the Doctor saw a hole, leading somewhere. In front of him, there was a door, which he entered, Harry and Ron at his heal. It lead into a shadowy hallway, then to a dark room. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, and there was a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings. The Doctor scanned the scratches on the wall, they were from 18 days ago.

“What is that thing?” Harry finally asked,

“Sonic Screwdriver.” The Doctor responded,

“And what’s a Sonic Screwdriver?” Ron asked,

“It’s a screwdriver that’s sonic.” The Doctor shrugged, then announced his findings, “These scratches are from the 30th of November, there shows traces of blood from what would appear to be human but with contaminated DNA, looks like-” The humming of the Sonic Screwdriver changed pitch, “Oh, lycanthropy, wouldn’t be the first time.” The Doctor laughed, “I once ran into one of these with Queen Victoria, and-” The Doctor paused, momentarily forgetting himself, “And a friend of mine.” There was a cold silence.

“What happened to them?” Harry’s voice pierced the silence,

“Nothing, she’s safe, with her family.” The Doctor was on his feet again,

“What’s a lycan- whatever?” Ron asked,

“Lycanthropy. You would call it a werewolf. That would explain the date, 30th was a full moon.” The Doctor paused, then ran back down the hallway, scanning the hole he saw earlier, then jumped down. He began running down the long hallway with dirt walls, as Ron and Harry hurried after him.

“John, what are you doing? We can’t see anything.” Harry called, and the Doctor paused and let the boys catch up with him.

“Sorry, superior vision.” The Doctor said offhandedly, then quickly covered his mistake with, “I’ve just spent more time in the dark and get used to it quicker.” The boys nodded, as if considering his lie, then seemed to agree it made sense, and promptly forgot about it. But someone else didn’t. The Doctor could feel the presence walk down the hallway from the shack, “Jack.” The Doctor turned himself to face the  figure silhouetted in the darkness. “What do you want?”

“I found something of yours. I can’t let him die.” Jack announced. The Doctor’s eyes widened, realizing what Jack had found. He must have made it to the TARDIS, he had found the data from Hogwarts. He was talking about the battle, four years from now, a battle would kill Fred Weasley. It was a fixed point.

“Jack, you know I can’t do anything. You know it’s a fixed point.” Harry and Ron were looking at each other, not understanding the conversation.

“I know, but you can do something. I know you can. I can’t watch this happen. It’s not fair.”

“You think I want this to happen? You think it’s easy to live with myself after everything I’ve done? You think I wouldn’t do everything in my power to keep everyone safe? There’s nothing I can do!” The rage of the Time Lord didn’t go unnoticed by the two third year boys, who took a step back, but Jack only advanced, stepping forward, but the Doctor dropped his voice, “None of this deserves to happen to any of, especially if you’re talking about who I think you’re talking about. I don’t know how you figured it out, or how you got ahold of anything, but there’s nothing I can do. I would if I could. I want to. But I can’t.” Jack’s fist smashed into the Doctor’s face.


	18. Forming a Team

When they returned to the Gryffindor common room with the Doctor’s broken nose, Hermione wasn’t the only one to raise from her seat. “You should go to the hospital wing.” She said, trying to pull him to the portrait hole.   
“I’ll be fine in the morning.” The Doctor assured her,

“That’s not how things work. I know you’re only a first year-” The Doctor had to clench his teeth in to keep himself from spitting out how old he really was, or at least how old he thought he was. But instead, cut her off with a bitter,

“Who happens to be a genius.” and rolled his eyes at Hermione, “Just trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

“Fine! I give up! If you want to just try to sleep it off, go for it!?” Hermione stormed off. The Doctor returned to his bed, knowing he could heal in his sleep.

The Doctor was more than used to nightmares. But these nights were tormented with the visions seen when he was near a dementor. There was fire everywhere. So much fire. It burned everything. Everyone. It was all his fault. “John! John!” The Doctor awoke to one of the boys in his dormitory shaking him awake,

“What is it?”

“You were screaming.”

“I- sorry.” The Doctor pulled himself out of bed and walked back into the common room. He found a sleeping Hermione on one of the large soft chairs. The Doctor sat down next to her. She opened her eyes at the new presence, then laughed,

“I knew you’d be back. Are you willing to listen to reason and- and-” Hermione stared at where the Doctor’s now repaired nose sat.

“How’d you do that?”

“Oh, simple. Er- charm. Yes.” Hermione saw right through his lie,

“You know what, you have to tell me what all this is. How are you so smart? How can you speak with hippogriffs? How can you fix yourself so quickly? Why do you have such a severe reaction to dementors?” The Doctor just shook his head,

“I’m sorry, I really am, but I can’t tell you. It’s not something you can understand.”

“I am older than you! I can understand! Don’t forget that I’ve been through a whole lot more than you ever could! I’ve been petrified, I’ve fought a troll, I’ve almost died! So why won’t you tell me?” The Doctor stood up, his height taking away none of the intimidation. His eyes blazed with a fiery rage,

“I’ll have you know, that you know nothing about me.” He turned on his heel, and walked out of the common room and through the portrait hole.

“You can’t leave, it’s against the rules!” Hermione called after him,

“I make the rules!” The Doctor called back, not knowing exactly where he was headed. He walked out of the castle, and over towards the forbidden forest. He paced around the border, knowing if he crossed it dementors would swarm. He could already feel them swarming around, but they weren’t close enough to cause him harm. Doxies and Acromantulas, how was he supposed to find any if he couldn’t make it into the forest? He heard heavy breathing behind him. He turned to see Hermione had come running after him.

“John!” She called, out of breath.

“What, Hermione?”

“What are you doing out here? You need to go back to the common room.”

“Why would you care?”

“Because, you still haven’t explained.”

“I’ll make you a deal.” The Doctor grinned, “If you can get me into the forest, I’ll explain.” Hermione eyed him down,

“Why do you want to get into the forest?”

“I want to find some Doxys and Acromantulas.”

“Why?”  
“I want to make a potion.”

“What kind of potion?”

“It’s to fix a problem I have.”

“What kind of problem?”

“I’ll explain that if you can help me get into the forest.”

“You’ll need to get past the dementors.”

“Yes, I will. Are you willing to help?”

“Harry can make a patronus. If you can convince Harry to help, then I’ll help too. But then you have to explain.” The Doctor nodded,

“Brilliant.”

Harry was more than willing to help the Doctor get into the forest, but was equally as curious about why. The Doctor promised to tell him as well. Ron was not willing to help, too aware of the spiders in the forest. The only one left to ask was Jack. The Doctor knew better than to approach him at breakfast with all the other Slytherins around, but instead waited until they were in the library. Jack was sitting by himself,

“Doctor, I’m sorry.” Were the first words that came out of Jack’s mouth. “I know it’s fixed and there’s nothing you can do.”

“How’d you get into the TARDIS?” The Doctor asked,

“Oh, uh, I got Professor Lupin to teach me to cast a patronus.” The Doctor nodded,

“Well, I came to ask you to help Harry, Hermione, and I to get into the forbidden forest, as we still need the Doxy wings and Acromantula venom.”

“Did you tell them why we need them?”

“No, but I promised them I’d explain later.” Jack nodded,

“Should we invite Fred and George?” The Doctor nodded,

“I was going to head there after I met up with you.”

“I’ll come.” The Doctor nodded, relieved to have his friend’s forgiveness. Together, the two boys wandered to the Gryffindor common room. By now, people were used to Jack coming to the Gryffindor common room, so they greeted him as he entered,

“Hey Fred, hey George.” The twins were in the corner, chatting.

“Hey John, Jack.” They were grinning, “We just perfected a spell we’re going to use on Malfoy. Want to see?”

“Actually, we have something to ask of you.” Jack said, but quickly added, “But I’d love to see you hex Malfoy.”

“What do you need?” Fred asked,

“We were wondering if you wanted to help Harry, Hermione, Jack, and I sneak into the forbidden forest.” The twins exchanged a glance, grinning,

“Sure, we’ve been there loads of times!”

“We’re heading out tonight at nine. Meet us by the courtyard.” The twins nodded simultaneously, then George said,   
“Little Ronnie said you made it into the Shrieking Shack. May we ask why we weren’t invited?”

“You weren’t there. I’ll show you on our next trip to Hogsmeade.” The twins seemed satisfied with his answer. Now they just had to wait for the evening.


	19. The Forbidden Forest

At nine o’clock, Harry, Hermione, Fred, George, Jack, and the Doctor left the courtyard. They entered the dark forest, lead by the light of Harry’s and Jack’s patronus’ that warded the dementors away, though the Doctor could still feel their presence looming around, ready to pounce the moment the defences were lowered. The usually talkative group was dead silent as Harry lead them to the Acromantula nest. When they arrived, the Doctor ordered Harry, Hermione, Fred, George, and Jack to stay back, trying to keep them out of harm's way. Everyone except Jack quickly agreed with this arrangement, so the Doctor reluctantly allowed Jack to follow him, and he told the others to get ready to run at a moment’s notice. He and Jack walked into the nest. They were quickly heard, as the Doctor imitated a clicking noise that Jack had no doubt they made. As soon as the Doctor had made the sound, a large Acromantula climbed out in front of them. His head hung, and he was marching on his six immensely long, hairy legs. He had shiny black pincers. Hundreds of similar creatures emerged from the forest into the clearing. Each spider was the size of a carthourse, each with eight eyes and eight legs. “Strangers.” The largest Acromantula said, looking at them, “Kill them.” Each word he spoke was accompanied with their pincers clicking.

“Wait,” The Doctor said, “Acromantula, native to the planet Acron. What happened to your planet?” The spiders paused,

“How do you have such knowledge, human?”

“Well, that’s where your mistake is.” “The Doctor smiled, “I’m no human.”

“Our planet is lost, what of yours? Where are you from?” The Doctor nodded in approval,

“Very clever. An answer for an answer. My planet is long gone as well. How long have you been on Earth?”

“Two Hundred years. What is of your colony?”

“I have no colony. It’s just me. How many members do you have in your colony?”

“Our number grows exponentially. But you have not answered my question, where are you from.” There was a pause,

“Gallifrey.” All eight of the eyes, visibly widened.

“Time Lord.” The Acromantula bowed its head in a symbol of mourning, then said, “Though many species do not mourn the death of the Time Lords, there was one Time Lord that saved the Acromantula race. A renegade Time Lord titled The Doctor came to our defence against the Daleks. The Daleks had launched an attack on our central conglomeration. We were doomed, as our defences would never hold, until a Blue Box came to our rescue. I was not there, but the legend of the Blue Box is passed from generation to generation.” The Doctor bowed to the Acromantula,

“It is an honor to meet you.” The Acromantula seemed momentarily confused, before coming to a quick realization,

“Doctor.”

“What is your namesake?”

“I am Aragog, Wife of Mosag, child of Pelrog and Yensog. My namesake is unknown, as I was sold by a wizard to Hagrid as an egg.” The Doctor nodded, “And what is your namesake, Doctor?”

“I don’t need a namesake.” The Doctor smiled,

“Why have you come, Doctor?” Aragog asked,

“I am in need of a favor.” The Doctor admitted,

“Anything for you.”

“I am in need of a flask of Acromantula venom. It is for a potion to restore my health.” Aragog lowered himself to the ground and allowed the Doctor to extract venom.

“Now that I have helped you, will you do me a favor, Doctor?” The Doctor nodded,

“Do not let the galaxy forget the Acromantula race. We are content living our lives on Earth, but we do not wish to be forgotten.” The Doctor nodded,

“You won’t be forgotten. That is a promise.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” The Doctor bowed, as did Aragog. With their flask full, and their goal achieved, the Doctor and Jack returned to the group, who seemed ready to sprint.

“Relax.” The Doctor smiled as everyone watched their return.

“How did you get away? Did you kill all of them?” Harry asked,

“No.” The Doctor snapped, “No, killing all of your enemies is never the answer.” Jack put a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder, and the Doctor just said, “We just chatted, and Aragog did me a favor.”

“What?” Harry’s mouth was agape, “Last time I tried to get a favor out of him, he almost ate me and Ron.”

“Well, I’m more of a familiar face.” The Doctor said cautiously. Jack rolled his eyes,

“Familiar face, try more ancient legend.”

“Jack!” The Doctor hissed,

“What? You promised you’d tell them. I’m just helping you get it out.”

“We have to find Doxy wings first, and something tells me they’re not going to be as friendly.” Jack gave a stiff nod, and they continued in silence.

When they found the Doxys, once again, everyone else was ordered to stay back, but this time, Fred and George wanted to come too, “We want to learn how to catch them because we think their venom could be useful in our prototype for our Skiving Snackboxes.” The Doctor shrugged,

“Don’t let them touch you. Watch from afar.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re venomous. Jack and I will be fine, but you won’t.” And with that, Jack and the Doctor began to walk toward the Doxy village. The Doxys were a bit more vicious, as they refused to reason. Jack quickly killed six of them, giving them the exact number of wings they needed. As precisely as a surgeon, the Doctor removed the wings.

“You didn’t have to kill them!” The Doctor was arguing with Jack,

“They were going to kill us.” Jack argued back,

“We could have stunned them.”

“I didn’t think of that because, if you didn’t notice, you were being swarmed with them.”

“I would have been fine.”

“Nope, when I was in the TARDIS, she showed me a book about your physiology, and it said Doxys were from the planet Dlaxocorphous, named after their cousins, Dlaxons, and that, although you had a higher tolerance than most species, if you were bit by more than six, you’d most certainly die.”

“Well, I wasn’t, so it doesn’t even matter.”

“How many were you bitten by?”

“Four.”

“You almost died.” The Doctor rolled his eyes dramatically,

“I would have thought of something.”

“Alright, time to explain.” Hermione announced as they returned to the group.

“Why did you need so many of us?” Fred asked,

“We didn’t do anything.” George agreed,

“Honestly, I thought the Acromantula would be more of a challenge. I didn’t know they remembered me.”

“You saved their entire race, I would think they'd would remember you.” Jack raised an eyebrow at the Doctor,

“How’d you save their race?” Harry asked curiously,

“Let’s get back to the common room first.” Hermione jumped in, “We don’t want to get caught.”

“I have an idea.” Harry said, “How about tomorrow night, around nine, we meet in the Gryffindor common room. I think we all need sleep right now.” There was a murmur of agreement, and they crossed back over the line. The dementors slid away, releasing the Doctor from the small grip they had managed to keep over him, and the warmth of Harry’s and Jack’s patronuses disappeared as they released the spell.

When they were safely back in the castle, Jack headed to the Slytherin Dormitory, and Fred, George, Harry, Hermione, and the Doctor returned to the Gryffindor common room. Fred, George, Harry, and Hermione returned to their beds, but the Doctor sat himself in one of the chairs, not wishing to relive the horrors that his dreams brought him.


	20. The Doctor's Secret

In the morning, Jack and the Doctor began the potion in the bathroom on the third floor. They had to wait for February 21st to brew the potion, which was coming up, but the Doctor had a more pressing thing to worry about. “What am I going to tell them?” The Doctor asked Jack as the day passed,

“Hey, you promised them. I have nothing to do with this.” The Doctor gave Jack a glare, before saying confidently,

“I’ll tell them I’m alien, but not that I was de-aged.” Jack nodded,

“What about me?”

“I’ll tell them you’re human. I just befriended you.” Jack nodded again.

“It’s weird to think we’ll be adults again soon.” Jack commented, “It’s been six months.” The Doctor shrugged, he was just looking forward to getting away from the dementors.

That night, after the last Gryffindor had gone to bed, Jack, Harry, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ron gathered around the Doctor. The Doctor gave a questioning glance at Hermione, then gestured to Ron. “He has a right to know too.” The Doctor nodded in acceptance, and sat on the floor, the rest of the students following.

“So, where are you from?” Hermione opened the conversation.

“Gallifrey.”

“Where’s that then, Ireland?” Hermione asked, the Doctor laughed,

“No.”

“Where is it then?”

“It’s in the constellation of Kasterborous. You wouldn’t know where it is.”

“By constellation, you mean like-” Hermione pointed out the window at the stars. The Doctor nodded.

“You’re from space?” Fred asked, his voice full of fascination,

“In a sense.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Hermione cut in, “There’s no such thing as aliens.”

“Come on, Hermione.” Harry said, “You’re saying there’s no way that on anywhere besides Earth, life is possible? In the whole galaxy?” Hermione narrowed her eyes,

“Then prove it.”

“Prove what? That I’m an alien? You mean the impeccable knowledge and talking to animals didn’t prove it?”

“No.” The Doctor scooted closer to her, and placed her hand on his chest. Her eyes widened,

“What is it?” Ron asked,

“Two hearts.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but audible enough to be heard.

“What kind of alien are you?” George asked,

“I’m a Time Lord.”

“Pompous much?” Fred grinned, the Doctor laughed,

“Yeah, they were a bit of a pompous race.”

“Were?” Harry’s voice cut in,

“Yeah.” The Doctor’s voice was chilled, but was seemingly trying to be light. “All gone now, I’m the last one.”

“What happened?” The Doctor could tell that Harry was the more empathetic one of the group.

“There was a war. A Time War. And we lost.”

“How’d you escape?” Ron asked, immersed in the Story,

“I ran away. Stole a TARDIS and ran away.”

“What’s a TARDIS?” Hermione asked,

“It’s a Police Box that travels through time and space.” Jack said,

“Yes, T-A-R-D-I-S. Time and Relative Dimension In Space.” The Doctor recited,

“What’s your planet like?” Harry asked,

“Oh, it was beautiful.” The Doctor smiled faintly, “It would shine white in the sunlight. The second sun would rise in the south, and the leaves on the trees would glissen silver. The vast mountain ranges had fields of deep red grass, and were capped with snow.” The Doctor’s voice faded in a silence that was broken by Harry,

“It sounds beautiful.”

“It was.”

“When did you leave? How old were you?” The subject of age had arrisin, just as the Doctor knew it would. But, despite telling Jack he wouldn’t, he found the group of friends trustworthy, so told him his age.

“I don’t know, probably two hundred and something.” The mouths of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George gaped at him.

“How old are you now?”

“I don’t quite remember, that’s the problem with living so long, so I like to think I’m nine hundred and something.”

“Nine hundred?” Hermione repeated, as if she hadn’t heard right,

“How come you still look like a kid then?” Ron asked,

“Well, that’s where the complications come in.” The Doctor laughed,

“What’s a Time Lord’s average life span then?” Hermione asked,

“Well, each Time Lord lives approximately four hundred years in each regeneration assuming they don’t die prematurely, and they have thirteen regenerations, so the average lifespan is approximately five thousand and two hundred give or take a couple hundred years.”

“So, you’re kind of just a kid then?” Ron asked, confused,

“In a matter of years, yes, but I’m already on my eleventh regeneration.”

“I thought you were on ten.” Jack said, now he was confused.

“Well, yes, also ten. It’s complicated.” Jack shrugged, there were plenty of things the Doctor said that he didn’t understand. “So assuming I don’t die prematurely again, which I most certainly will, I have about eight hundred Earth years ahead of me.”

“Are Gallifreyan years different than Earth years?” Jack asked, and the Doctor nodded,

“Longer. Everything’s more complicated on Gallifrey.”

“I assume then, John isn’t your real name.” Fred said,

“No.” The Doctor smiled,

“Then what’s your name?” George asked,

“I’m the Doctor.”

“But that’s not a name, that’s a title.” Hermione said,

“That’s my name.”

“Your whole name?”

“As far as you’re concerned.”

“So it’s not then.” Hermione put on a triumphant face,

“You know we’re not going to like, judge you for it or anything.” Fred said, the Doctor smiled softly, and just simply said,

“That’s my secret to keep.”

“Can you give us an example of a name then?” George asked, the Doctor shrugged,

“Well, I had a friend whose name was Romanadvoratrelundar.

“Did you always go by Doctor?” This time it was Jack who asked the question,

“No,” The Doctor laughed, “I went by Theta Sigma.”

“Why?”

“Because the other name I went by in order to fit in was Thetatropolousvsgholtazsr Sigmaakronosvexsithkada, and Theta Sigma was simpler to pronounce.”

“Oh.” There was a quiet silence, then Fred asked,

“What would my name be in your language?”

“Zenlisspolcharvanononsor.” George gave a snort of laughter,

“What would mine by?” He asked,

“Stozorgorundtharekohorz.” It was Fred’s turn to laugh now,

“We could call you Stozo!”

“Oh yeah, Zen!” George laughed,

“What about me?” Ron asked eagerly, as George pulled off a quill and tried to write the names, as the Doctor made the syllables again. Some of them didn’t translate well to English, with some sounds that humans couldn’t make, but the nicknames were easy enough to pronounce. Then he went to Ron.

“You’d be Hildrellnonsorwinigoorquaront.”

“Hildrey!” The twins chorused through their laughter. They did their family, their mother, Molly, was Trygothmunzadaiananonsorzon, whom they nicknamed Trygo. Their father, Arthur, was Theozoregreyaonitralnyndavano, whom they nicknamed Theozore. Their eldest brother, Percy, was Greyaviaorquadrezeldriund, or Greyviva, which quickly became Viva. Their older brother, Charlie, was Dardrinbygosoramil, or Dar-dar, and their sister Ginny, was Pondarianagoresimaiana, or Pond. Then, Harry's turn came,

“Valvinellestrumdan.” The Doctor announced. Harry groaned as the Weasley twins choroused,

“Valvine!”

“What about me?” Hermione asked quietly. The Doctor smiled, glad she was opening her mind to the outside worlds,

“Hiltrismilsanagajast.” The Doctor grinned,

“Hiltris.” The twins announced.

“What would my name be, Doctor?” Jack asked,

“Anpeshorquathenebora.”

“We could call you Peshie?” Fred suggested, and Jack grinned. They spent the rest of the night joking and laughing, and for once, the Doctor could forget his impending doom.


	21. Exams

The next morning, bad news arrived at the breakfast table. Jack had been sitting with them, so missed nothing. A letter from Hagrid arrived, wet with tears. It read:

_Dear Harry, Ron, Hermione, and John,_

_We lost. I’m allowed to bring Buckbeak back to Hogwarts._

_Execution date to be fixed._

_Beaky had enjoyed London._

_I won’t forget all the help you gave us._

_Hagrid_

The Doctor had forgotten about Draco’s father pressing charges against Buckbeak. His heart clenched.

June came much quicker than anyone was prepared for. The Doctor and Jack had completed their re-ageing potion, but chose to wait for the school year to end before returning to their appropriate ages. Exam week began, and an unusual hush fell over the castle. The Doctor didn’t need to take his Transfiguration of Potions exams because he excelled throughout the year, but he followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione to their Charms exam. Harry slightly overdid his charm on Ron, whom he was partnered up with, and he ended up in fits of hysterical laughter, and the Doctor had to use a quick countercurse so Ron could do his own charm. Ron did quite well on Harry, and the Doctor partnered up with Hermione, whom he was getting along with much better with since he told them he was an alien. She was spectacular, casting the charm perfectly, with a score that would have matched the Doctor had Professor Flitwick not given him extra points for using the countercurse on Ron.

Professor Hagrid presided over the Care of Magical Creatures exam the following morning with a very preoccupied air, as Buckbeak’s execution was only two days away. His heart didn’t seem to be in it at all. He had provided a large tub of fresh flobberworms for the class, and told them that to pass the test, their flobberworm had to still be alive at the end of one hour. The Doctor tried to talk with the flobberworms, but they weren’t much for conversation, so he, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked up to Professor Hagrid. “Beaky’s gettin’ a bit depressed,” Professor Hagrid informed them, “Bin cooped up too long. But still… we’ll know day after tomorrow - one way or the other.”

The Doctor had herbology that afternoon while the third years had potions. The next morning, they had Defence Against the Dark Arts. The Doctor was excused from having to do the boggart, as was Harry, so the Doctor easily flew through the exam. Professor Lupin had made a sort of obstacle course outside. They first had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow, then cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk. The Doctor and Harry were allowed to exit then, though Harry chose not to, going to fight the dementor his boggart had become. He came out will full marks, as did the Doctor. Ron did very well until he reached the hinkypunk who successfully confused him into sinking waist-high into the quagmire. Hermione did everything perfectly until she reached the trunk with the boggart in it. After about a minute inside it, she burst out screaming. “Hermione!” Professor Lupin said, startled, “What’s the matter?”

“P-P-Professor McGonagall!” Hermione gasped, pointing into the trunk, “Sh-she said I’d failed everything!” The Doctor found this slightly amusing, jealous of the innocence and the very little she had seen.

The four of them had been laughing with Hermione about her boggart, as she had begun laughing as well, until they reached the top of the steps in the castle. The Doctor recognised him from some books he had read as Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. He stared at the sight of Harry, “Hello there, Harry!” He said, “Just had an exam I expect? Nearly finished?”

“Yes.” Harry said, then Mr. Fudge noticed the small Doctor, clearly having recognised Ron and Hermione and not him,

“Is this a friend of yours?”

“John Smith.” The Doctor stuck his hand out. Mr. Fudge took it, clearly just to humor him, then a spark of realization struck his face,

“Oh! You’re that smart chap that Professor Dumbledore keeps talking about.” He seemed to be internally laughing at the fact that Professor Dumbledore had thought a boy so small was capable of so much.

“Yes, sir.” The Doctor said, wandlessly and wordlessly changing the colour of his hat to a bright orange with a small banana design on it to clash with his professional, navy blue suit. Mr. Fudge didn’t notice, and turned back to Harry,

“Lovely day, Pity… Pity…” He sighed deeply, then looked down at Harry, “I’m here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts anyway, I was asked to step in.”

“Mad Hippogriff.” The Doctor muttered angrily, “He’s much cleverer and much more sane than any of you.” Mr. Fudge turned to him,

“What?” Clearly he hadn’t heard, so the Doctor just said,

“Nothing.” Mr. Fudge shrugged,

“Dear, dear, I’m getting too old for this… Two o’clock, isn’t it, Fudge?” A very old wizard squinted towards Professor Hagrid’s cabin. The man who had followed the wizard was fingering something in his belt. Looking closer, the Doctor saw it was the blade of a shining axe. The Doctor tried to pull Harry, Ron, and Hermione away, but they clearly all saw the axe.

“Did you see them?” Ron said angrily as they entered the Great Hall for lunch, “They’ve even got the axe ready! This isn’t justice!”

Harry, Ron, and the Doctor’s last exam was Divination, and Hermione’s was Muggle Studies, as she had stormed out of and quit Divination earlier on in the year, proving Professor Trelawney's prediction right. They walked up the marble staircase together; Hermione left them on the first floor, and Harry, Ron, and the Doctor proceeded all the way up to the seventh floor. “She’s seeing us separately.” Neville Longbottom informed them as they went to sit down outside of the classroom. There was a moment of silence, then Neville asked, “Have you ever seen _anything_ in the crystal ball?”

“Nope.” Harry and Ron said, but the Doctor just shrugged.

“You have?” Neville boggled at the Doctor,

“Higher psychic field.” The Doctor said. Harry and Ron nodded in understanding, as the Doctor had explained to them the psychic field explaining why he was so powerful with magic. Neville just continued to stare.

Slowly but surely, the line of people outside the classroom shortened. Each person climbed down the silver ladder, the rest of the class hissed, “What did she ask? Was it okay?” But they all refused to say. Harry went, then Ron, and soon the Doctor was the last one in the hallway besides Harry who had waited with him once he had returned. Ron returned, then Professor Trawlawny called,

“Doctor!” She had been calling the Doctor by his real name for a long time. She had a faint ability to see future possibilities, and therefore she could see the Doctor’s name. Not his real one, just his prefered one. “Good day, dear.” She said softly as the Doctor entered, “If you would kindly gaze into the Orb.” The Doctor stared into the crystal ball. There was a face in the swirling, white fog. A face he had never seen before but immediately recognised, and it was laughing. It got into his head. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.  One, two, three, four. The pounding was overwhelming. It was in his head.

“What do you see?” Professor Trelawney asked, shocked at his reaction,

“The Master.” The Doctor cried through the pain, “He’s returning!” The Doctor collapsed and everything went dark.


	22. Sirius Black

The Doctor opened his eyes to find himself on the floor of the Divination room. He had only passed out for a minute, but Professor Trelawney was looking down at him. “You have a tortured path ahead of you.” She said finally, “But with dark, there is also light. You just have to look for it.” The Doctor nodded, “But you do get full marks if that means anything to you. You are clearly a true Seer.” The Doctor nodded, pulled himself up, and exited the room.

“What did you see?” Harry asked the Doctor as they walked down the stairs,

“An old friend of mine.” The Doctor said, not exactly lying.

“She gave me a prophecy.” Harry admitted,

“What did she say?” The Doctor stopped and turned to Harry who began to recite the prophecy,

“It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight… the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight… Before midnight… The servant… will set out… to rejoin… his master….” The Doctor scanned his brain before announcing,

“I have no idea what it’s about.”

“Well, the Dark Lord is clearly Voldemort.” Harry said, Ron winced at the name, the Doctor shrugged,

“She gave me a prophecy earlier in the year, it doesn’t mean it’ll come true anytime soon.” It was more wishful thinking than anything.

“But she said tonight.” Harry pointed out. The Doctor nodded, deep in thought. All of a sudden, they saw Hermione running towards them from across the hall, tear streaked and clutching a letter from Professor Hagrid. It said,

Lost appeal. They’re going to execute at sunset. Nothing you can do. Don’t come down. I don’t want you to see it.

Hagrid

“We’ve got to go.” Harry said, but the Doctor was already running towards his hut. The Doctor banged on Professor Hagrid’s door, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Jack, who had seen them running and joined in the moment he knew what was going on. Professor Hagrid opened the door.

“Yeh shouldn’ve come!” Professor Hagrid whispered, but stood back and let them all in. “Wan’ some tea?” He asked, his voice that of a defeated man.

“Where’s Buckbeak?” The Doctor asked,

“I- I took him outside. He’s tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees an’- an’ smell fresh air- before-” Professor Hagrid’s hands were trembling so hard that he dropped the kettle he was holding. The Doctor quickly and easily cleaned it up with the flick of his wand. They kept talking until Hermione picked up the milk bottle to pour some into the jug, when she let out a shriek.

“Ron! I- I don’t believe it- It’s _Scabbers!_ ” The Doctor had never really properly met Scabbers, but had heard Hermione and Ron arguing about him countless times. Ron had claimed Hermione’s cat Crookshanks, whom the Doctor did have the pleasure to meet, had eaten Scabbers. Ron gaped at Hermione,

“What are you talking about?” Hermione carried the milk jug over to the table and turned it upside down. With a frantic squeak, and much scrambling to get back inside, Scabbers the rat came sliding out onto the table.

“Scabbers!” Ron said blankly, “Scabbers, what are you doing here?” The Doctor asked Scabbers, but Scabbers refused to respond.

“He won’t talk to me.” The Doctor eyed the rat, “He’s giving off a weird energy signal.”

“They’re comin’...” Professor Hagrid said, and the Doctor saw a group of men walking down the distant castle steps. He would recognize Mr. Fudge’s new banana hat anywhere.

“We have to go.” The Doctor said, “They can’t find us here.” Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jack nodded, in agreement. They ran out the backdoor and snuck around the house as the men entered the hut. After a few minutes, there was a jumble of indistinct male voices, a silence, and then, without warning, the unmistakable swish and thud of an axe. Everyone stood there, horrified, except the Doctor. He would have been able to hear Buckbeak’s cries. Buckbeak had been saved. And the Doctor knew who had done it. All of a sudden, there was Ron’s cry of

“Ouch! He bit me!” Scabbers had sprinted across the grass, Ron following at his heal, “Scabbers, get back here!” They hurtled after Ron; they could hear his feet thundering along ahead and his shouts. “Gotcha!” Ron cried triumphantly as he clutched the rat in his hands. Then, they heard the soft pounding of paws, the Doctor jumped around to see an enormous, pale eyed, jet black dog. Before anyone could react, the dog grabbed ahold of Ron’s outstretched arm and dragged him down into the tree the Doctor recognised as the whomping willow, and the path the one which brought them to the Shrieking Shack. The Doctor shot a powerful stunning spell at the tree, causing it to freeze, and he pulled Hermione, Harry, and Jack into the hole. They got to the other end, and they all pulled themselves into the shack. There was a streak where the dust had been cleared away on the floor, so the Doctor immediately took off after it. Crookshanks, Hermione’s cat, was sitting on the bed in the room.

“Ron!” Hermione ran over to Ron, who was on the floor. The Doctor knew Jack had some medical knowledge, and so instead concerned himself with the man standing behind them.

“He’s an Animagus.” Ron said. Sirius Black. The Doctor knew the man’s name before even speaking to him, as he easily recognised him from all the wanted photos.

“ _Expelliarmus!_ ” He croaked, knocking the wands out of everyone’s hands except the Doctor’s who quickly cried,

“ _Protego!_ ”

“ _Pitrificus totalus!”_

 _“Protego! Stupify!”_ Sirius Black was on the ground. “ _Incarcerous!_ ” The Doctor sent thick ropes out of his wand that tied up the man. He was looking at Harry who was knelt by Ron,  
“Good that you went to help your friend. Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I’m grateful… it will make everything much easier…”

“What do you want from him?” The Doctor asked, suddenly feeling quite protective of his friend,

“What makes you think I want something from him?”

“I’m just asking the question.”

“I want nothing of Harry.”

“Then what do you want?”

“The rat.” The Doctor turned and looked at Scabbers,

“What’s wrong with him? His energy signatures are off.” Sirius furrowed an eyebrow,

“I don’t know anything about energy signatures, but he’s an Animagus too.”

“Then who is he really?”

“Peter Pettigrew.”

“I’ve read that name before.”

“He framed me for his murders.” Harry pushed the Doctor out of the way,

“I’ve had enough of this!”

“What are you doing?” Hermione cried as Harry jumped up on Sirius,

“Harry, no!” The Doctor grabbed Harry’s hands, which were attempting to strangle the man,

“Don’t kill him. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s killing corrupts. Once you do it once, it follows you. It haunts you. The destruction of life is never justified. Never. Not for one moment.”

“He killed my parents.”

“I killed mine. I killed everyone, Harry. Because they would have killed everyone else. And I regret it every single day of my life. Leave it to me. I need to protect your conscience.” Harry stared at the Doctor as he walked up to Sirius who was still tied up, and had been listening to their conversation.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Doctor. Defender of Earth.”

“Impressive title.” The Doctor grinned,

“Tell me what happened.” Sirius began to tell his story.

“When we were young boys in Hogwarts, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and I were best friends. But when the Dark Lord rose to power, Peter crossed over without our knowing, so when he went after the Potter family, they went into hiding. I was appointed safekeeper, but I passed it onto Peter, thinking that he wouldn’t be expected, and I would be. I tried to protect them. But Peter was helping the Dark Lord the whole time. He told him where they were hiding. So I did kill them, in a sense.”

“And the rat, he’s Peter.” In conformation, the rat ran out of Ron’s hand, but the Doctor shot a spell and the rat began to transform. He formed a dirty, short, balding man.

“ _Incarcerous!_ ” The Doctor tied up Peter, then flicked his wand with the incantation, “ _Relashio!_ ” and untied Sirius.

They exited the Shack quietly. Sirius was talking to Harry, who had calmed down. Sirius seemed quite fond of the boy, and Peter was now trapped. Suddenly, the air got very cold. Before anyone could react, the Doctor felt himself falling, dementors began swarming. Jack tried casting a patronus, but there were much too many dementors. Peter had begun to shrink down, turning back into a rat and running away, but the Doctor was falling through the darkness as it swallowed him whole.


	23. A Rescue in a Blue Box

The Doctor sat up. He was in the hospital wing, laying in a bed. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Jack were laying in the beds beside him. “Lay back down!” Madam Pomfrey had arrived carrying a large block of chocolate the size of a small boulder.

“Is Ron alright?” Harry had just opened his eyes,

“He’ll live,” Madam Pomfrey said grimly, “As for you four… You’ll be staying here until I'm satisfied you’re ready to leave.”

“What happened to Sirius Black?” the Doctor asked,

“It's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now’”

“What's the kiss?” Jack asked,

“It’s a cruel and inhumane form of punishment that literally sucks out the soul of the victim, leaving them as an empty vessel.” The Doctor spat. A figure approached the bed. It was a curious Cornelius Fudge.

“Now,” he laughed, “This boy is fascinating.” The Doctor then noticed that the minister had a new hat on, a smart blue hat rather than the bright banana one. The Doctor shrugged, and the man walked away, clearly thinking deeply. After a moment of silence, Professor Dumbledore was standing in the entrance.

“Professor!” Harry was on his feet before Madam Pomfrey shrieked and forced him back into his bed.

“Professor Dumbledore, where is Sirius being kept?” Then for good measure, the Doctor added, “Just so we know he’s locked safely away.” Professor Dumbledore looked curiously at the Doctor,

“In Professor Flitwick’s office on the seventh floor.” The Doctor nodded,

“Have a good night, professor.” Professor Dumbledore nodded, and exited the hospital wing. When Madam Pomfrey strode out of the ward, the Doctor jumped up.

“I have a plan. Jack, can you get us into the TARDIS?” Jack got up as well and nodded.

“That’s your space machine, yeah?” Harry said,

“ _She_ is the most powerful ship in the universe.” The Doctor looked at Ron,

“I don’t think you can come. You’re arm looks about to fall off.” Ron nodded in understanding, but Hermione and Harry got up.

“No one can see us leave.” The Doctor warned as he opened a window, jumping into the grassy courtyard. They followed him until he paused at the edge of the grounds where the dementors hovered. Jack cast a patronus and guided them until they made it to the police box. The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS door, whispering soothingly, “Yes, I missed you too.” Grinning, he let them walk in. Hermione seemed unfazed,

“You never said your species knew magic as well. I thought you said they were of science.”

“There is no magic here.” The Doctor’s tone was slightly offended,

“Undetectable extension charm.”

“It’s bigger on the inside Time Lord technology.”

“Then explain it to me.” The Doctor babbled something in Gallifreyan, then paused when he saw everyone staring at him.

“You’re talking in Gallifreyan, Doctor.” Jack said, and the Doctor raised an eyebrow,

“That was my point. There’s no English translation. The only way to explain it is with Gallifreyan.” Hermione made a somewhat pouty noise, then looked around.

“It’s quite messy.” The Doctor rolled his eyes,

“Jack, you’re going to have to help me, this is going to be hard with this tiny body.” Jack nodded,

“What do I have to do?” The Doctor instructed Harry, Hermione, and Jack on what buttons to push, and the TARDIS shook began to dematerialize. Once the TARDIS landed, the Doctor ran to the door, then paused and turned to the group.

“You need to be careful.” The Doctor informed them, “We can’t be seen. This is going to be a mad paradox, so stay out of sight.” They nodded, and the Doctor burst open the TARDIS door. They were in the forest directly behind Professor Hagrid’s hut. There were voices inside,

“Where’s Buckbeak?” The Doctor heard his previous self ask,

“I- I took him outside.” Professor Hagrid was responding,

“Do you understand what happened?” The Doctor asked the confused Hogwarts students. When none of them responded, he said, “We’ve traveled to the past. That’s our previous selves.” They nodded slowly, clearly shocked.

“Ron!” Past Hermione was saying, “I- I don’t believe it- it’s Scabbers!” Present Harry let out a low growl, “Pettigrew.”

“I know you want to.” The Doctor looked at Harry, “But do you remember seeing yourself in there?”

“No?”

“Then you can’t go in there. We’re messing with a fixed point in time right now. And a fixed point can’t be changed. We have to be careful, or we’ll rip time itself apart!” The Doctor was now about two inches away from Harry, who just nodded,

“Okay, okay.”

“Look, here they come.” Jack had nudged the Doctor and pointed at the group of ministry officials walking down to the hut.

“We’re about to come out.” Hermione breathed, and the Doctor dragged them deeper into the forest.

“Where is the beast?” the executioner asked Professor Hagrid as Past Harry, Hermione, Jack, and the Doctor hurried away. Present Doctor stepped nearer.  
“Out- outside.” Professor Hagrid croaked. The executioner examined Buckbeak, nodded in approval, then he and the rest of the officials entered the cabin. They heard the voice of Mr. Fudge,

“We- er- have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I’ll make it quick, And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, you’re supposed to listen too, that’s procedure-” The executioner, clearly Mr. Macnair, had been looking out the window at Buckbeak, and turned around and disappeared from view.

“Wait here.” The Doctor warned Hermione, Harry, and Jack. They nodded and watched the Doctor approach Buckbeak, “Hey, Buckbeak.” He smiled at the beautiful bird,

“ _Hello again, I never did learn your name._ ”

“Oh, I’m the Doctor.” Buckbeak bowed in acknowledgement, “I assume you know what’s about to happen.” The Doctor got straight to business,

“ _Yes, I am to be executed for the attack of a young boy._ ”

“I can save you.”

“ _But Hagrid will be blamed. He will go to Azkaban again._ ”

“Again?”

“ _He was falsely accused._ ”

“But the officials have seen you. They will not suspect him. He are in the room with him. I can save you. I can find you a safe place to be. Please. I have seen much too much death, I don’t want to let it happen again.” Buckbeak seemed to analyze the situation for a moment, stood.

“ _I will follow you._ ” The Doctor unlocked Buckbeak’s chains with his Sonic Screwdriver, and the two of them retreated to the forest.

When Professor Hagrid’s door opened, there was silence, then, a committee member asked, “Where is it? Where is the beast?”

“It was tied here!” Mr. Macnair said furiously, “I saw it! Just here!” Whilst they bickered, the Doctor, Jack, Harry, and Hermione walked through the forest.

“Why can’t we take the TARDIS?” Jack was asking once the Doctor revealed his plan to rescue Sirius Black with Buckbeak under the cover of night.

“The TARDIS isn’t safe with drivers this small.” The Doctor said, “This’ll be easier.”

That night, the four of them climbed atop Buckbeak. The Doctor easily spotted the classroom, as it was swamped with dementors. Jack and Harry cast their patronus’, clearing the way for them. The Doctor saw Sirius as they rose up beside the window, and the Doctor easily unlocked it with his Sonic Screwdriver, murmuring something like,

“Isn’t even deadlock sealed, it’s like you want him to escape, Professor Dumbledore. Then, with a manic grin, held his hand out to Sirius.

“How- how-?” Sirius was stuttering,

“Get on, we haven’t much time.” Harry said, pulling the man up. Sirius placed a hand on either side of the window frame and heaved his head and shoulders out of it. It was very lucky he was so thin. In seconds, he had managed to fling one leg over Buckbeak’s back and pull himself onto the hippogriff behind Hermione.

“Can you please take us up to the tower?” The Doctor asked Buckbeak. In response, Buckbeak lifted them higher onto the top of the West Tower. He landed with a clatter on the battlements.

“Buckbeak, you know I can’t stay with you, right?” the Doctor said regretfully,

“ _Yes, I am aware._ ”

“But I can help you stay with someone who can. You know he’s innocent just as much as I do. Would this be alright? He will care for you and keep you safe.” Buckbeak let off a soft sound,

“ _Yes. I quite like him. But I will miss you. You saved my life, and I will never forget that. I shall tell my children and fellow kin of you, you will not be forgotten. But a Sentar once told me, ‘The Lord of Time has traveled far and alone, but alone he is not. He is not alone. The days shorten, and the moment dreaded shall arrive with time. He who is feared shall return. Many dangers await the path of the alleged hero. Do not forget who you are, as the man who forgets is drenched with the blood of his foes. Do not lose the love in your heart.’ I now know he was talking of you. Stay safe, Doctor. You will be remembered as a hero.”_

“Thank you, Buckbeak.” The Doctor was chilled to the bone, but knew he must finish what she started, and slid off the hippogriff, signalling for Harry, Hermione, and Jack to do the same. “You should go. Buckbeak has agreed to stay with you. Keep him safe. You owe him your life.” Sirius smiled at Harry, “We’ll see each other again. You are- truly your father’s son, Harry.” Then, he turned to the Doctor, “And you,” He laughed, “Are very strange. I look forward to seeing you in the future.”

“I don’t think you will.” The Doctor said sadly. Sirius gave a questioning look, but when the Doctor told Buckbeak to go, Buckbeak listened, flying high into the air.


	24. The Last Train

“Now, we need to go.” The Doctor announced as the faintest trace of Sirius could no longer be seen in the deep night.

“What?” Harry asked, “Where?”  
“Well, we have exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing before Madam Pomfrey will notice we’re missing.” In a moment, the students were running down the halls, trying to make it to the hospital wing in time. They burst the door open, just as the past them were jumping out the window. Ron was looking at them like they were mad,

“What happened?” He asked.

When Harry, Ron, Hermione, Jack, and the Doctor left the hospital wing at noon the next day, it was to find an almost deserted castle. “Hogsmeade.” Harry explained, the Doctor assumed he had seen it on the notice board that he never paid attention to. They gathered in the Gryffindor common room with Fred and George, who had been waiting for them to be released. They were told what happened, and by the end of the tale were grinning, ear to ear. “That’s brilliant!” They laughed.

 

The last morning of school arrived, and the Doctor and Jack bid farewell to Fred, George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “It’s been a blast, mate.” Fred was saying. They were all well aware that they would never be seeing the Doctor and Jack again.

“Have a great life. Try to visit, yeah?” Hermione said through tears, “You’ve got what, eight hundred years left?”

“Give or take, yeah.” The Doctor laughed.

By the time the students had boarded the train, Jack and the Doctor were forced to return to the TARDIS to re-age themselves. “Cheers.” Jack and the Doctor clinked the flasks together. The Doctor felt a warmth in his body as he began to shoot up in height. Tears dripped down his cheeks as he began changing faces, it had been a great year. He had never felt more alive then when he was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, laughing with his friends. But he knew he had to move on. There was nothing he could do. The longer he stayed, the more likely it would be that they get hurt.

That night, a fully aged Doctor sat quietly in his library. Jack walked in and sat next to the Doctor. The silence was nice, but silence was always best when it was shared. The Doctor took a shaky breath before saying softly,

“All good things must end one day. It is pointless to pretend that will not be.” Jack nodded, then gave a smile,

“Yeah.” He said after a moment’s hesitation, “But for a while, I felt like it would.” The Doctor smiled, “But more great times are coming, right, Doctor?” The Doctor closed his eyes, his mind closing on the prophecies he had received. The Master was returning, that much was clear. But, trying to preserve his smile, he just said,

“Yep. Here’s to what’s to come.”


	25. Epilogue

_Harry Potter stepped into his first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year. The school just didn’t seem the same without the Doctor. But no one except Hermione, Ron, and himself seemed to remember the mysterious John Smith. He sat down with Ron and Hermione in their seats, no teacher in sight, until footsteps behind them began to get louder. A man walked in. He was about 6’ 1, with deep brown hair that stuck up into the air. His eyes were brown as well. He wore a large brown overcoat that ended just above the ankle. Underneath, his suit was a brown pinstripe and he wore a maroon tie, and on his feet, a pair of converse sneakers. “Good morning, class.” He said, swiveling on his heel at the front of the room to face the class, “I’m Professor John Smith.”_


End file.
